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COFiRIGttT DEPOSIT. 







(HARLES(tRARD(ONbr 



For the Good of the World 



Finding the Real God 



BY 

CHARLES GERARD CONN 

Author of The Sixth Sense 



1919 

GEO. RICE &. SONS 

Los Angeles 



+& 



DEDICATION 

This volume is respectfully dedicated 
to believers in common sense methods 
of religious worship, based on facts 
and scientific principles. 



Copyright 1919, by Charles Gerard Conn 

FE3 24 

©CI.A512S79 



INDEX TO SERIES OF PROPOSITIONS 

The explanation of each proposition will be found on 
the page indicated, and will be complete in itself. 

Page 
Dedication. 

Explanatory 13 

Proposition Number One : That man has existed for 
more than five hundred thousand years, and that 
the skeletal relics of prehistoric man, together with 
full information concerning their discoveries, may 
be found in several European museum. . . 36 

Record of Prehistoric-Man Discoveries. . . 40 

Proposition Number Two : That a careful investiga- 
tion of the mental and physical development of 
man, its cause, inception and growth will convince 
intelligent persons that we are not controlled by a 
supernatural influence, and that our mentalities 
are physical functions 41 

Proposition Number Three : That the principles for 
mental regeneration, advocated in this series of 
propositions, must necessarily conflict with re- 
ligious and other methods of reformation, but no 
"^criticism of these methods is intended. All means 
of reformation that lead to right doing deserve 
earnest and heartfelt support 48 

Proposition Number Four: That we are direct de- 
scendants of prehistoric man, and as such belong 
to vertebrate animal life. We are controlled by 
animal functions, tendencies and proclivities, but 
possess a superior mentality by means of which we 
have gradually upbuilded ourselves from a bestial 
state to our present enlightened, civilized condition. 52 



INDEX TO SERIES OF PROPOSITIONS 

Proposition Number Five: That each unit or living 
thing in earthly creation is endowed with ability to 
procreate its own kind, and to maintain its own 
existence, when conditions are favorable. Each of 
these units, or living things, is entirely independent 
of other forms of earthly life, and is in no way 
related to nor has an affinity for them. . . 56 

Proposition Number Six: It is impossible for one 
person to receive information and knowledge or 
to communicate with another person unless by 
means of the five senses, touch, taste, sight, smell 
and hearing. That is an inexorable law of nature. 
And when mechanical processes are employed for 
an exchange of communications the five senses 
must be used to render them intelligible. . . 59 

Proposition Number Seven: That life animates all 
existence and causes it to thrive and procreate in 
accordance with natural laws. That mankind is 
subject -to these laws, and to various changes 
that take place. That while life provides the ani- 
mation that sustains mankind, the six senses create 
and control the mental forces that call into use the 
brain cellular activities, and that these cellular ac- 
tivities supply mental ability, and cause our phys- 
ical organs to function. . . . . .62 

Proposition Number Eight : That as children of na- 
ture, inspired and animated by life, we should not 
abuse the gifts of our benefactor by deliberately 
assisting in their destruction, through acts of wrong 
doing. Good health, reasonable enjoyment, pros- 
perity in worldly affairs, intellectual success, and 
a long earthly existence, followed by immortality, 
will be our reward for right living and right doing. 66 



INDEX TO SERIES OF PROPOSITIONS 

Proposition Number Nine: That unless we protect 
our mentalities from the ravages of wrong doing, 
We cannot expect to be happy and contented. . 69 

Proposition Number Ten : That man is his own lord 
and master, and that his right or wrong doing 
results from either good or harmful mental train- 
ing 72 

Proposition Number Eleven : That the influence 
known as life must be the creator and controller of 
the universe. Also the God, the Father, the Omnip- 
otent Power we worship as our Lord and Master. 
We know of no other supernatural influence. . 75 

Proposition Number Twelve : That man should take 
advantage of the opportunities life affords. He 
then would never have reason to be discontented, 
unhappy and unfortunate 79 

Proposition Number Thirteen : That the great prob- 
lem of mortal existence will not be solved until we 
learn why man was created with a super-mentality 
and then permitted to take possession of the world 
and its creations 82 

Proposition Number Fourteen : That too much can- 
not be said, or done, to convince mankind that our 
religious convictions should conform to actual fact, 
concerning the creation of the world and the work- 
ings of nature. All efforts to keep up a belief in 
incongruities should be stopped 87 

Proposition Number Fifteen: That there is a way 
to avoid becoming the slaves of an animal nature, 
and of the evil tendencies handed down through 
ancestral inheritance 91 



INDEX TO SERIES OF PROPOSITIONS 

Proposition Number Sixteen : That man was en- 
dowed with a superior mentality for the purpose 
of achieving immortality, and to upbuild the wel- 
fare of the world. 95 

Proposition Number Seventeen : That the adage, 
"Man proposes and God disposes," should be re- 
versed to read, "God proposes and man disposes." 97 

Proposition Number Eighteen: That ability to do 
things, to accomplish satisfactory results, to bring 
about successful issues, to acquire knowledge, to 
learn to memorize and to become proficient in phys- 
ical feats are the results of mental training. . 100 

Proposition Number Nineteen : That the most laud- 
able ambition to which a man or woman could 
aspire, is to become a parent of healthy, intellect- 
ual, moral children, with vigorous, active men- 
talities 104 

Proposition Number Twenty : That the much vaunt- 
ed statement that man was created after the image 
of God must be a mistake. Man is an animal, and 
is possessed with animal proclivities. What man 
most needs is mental self -upbuilding. He may then 
be worthy of a comparison with God. . . . 107 

Proposition Number Twenty-one : That mental dis- 
tress and cases of "nerves" result from loss of 
mental control. Right thinking and right doing will 
banish such evils. Fight them fearlessly through 
the medium of prayer. That is the panacea for 
mental ills 110 

Proposition Number Twenty-two : That our mental- 
ities are not like sponges, into which information 
and knowledge may be soaked, and then squeezed 
out when needed; nor are they a white and gray 






INDEX TO SERIES OF PROPOSITIONS 

matter actuated supernaturally, one for the intel- 
lect, and the other for physical movements, nor are 
we possessed by a spiritual influence that reappears 
after we have passed away, as ghosts, auras, or 
shadows of our earthly existence as individuals. 
Such phenomena are creations of vivid imagina- 
tions ; 114 

Proposition Number Twenty-three: That mankind 
generally is the product of mental training, of 
mental development, should be understood by every 
person 117 

Proposition Number Twenty-four: That the mind 
should be developed and upbuilded by careful 
methods to cause it to become strong, vigorous, 
active and useful. We should cultivate our minds 
and free them from harmful tendencies, in the 
same painstaking manner we cultivate other ma- 
terial things for our personal needs. . . . 120 

Proposition Number Twenty-five : That there is no 
logical reason why man should be baptized or sub- 
ject himself to any form of church ceremony, or 
other means of subscribing to articles of faith, be- 
fore he will be entitled to salvation. . . .123 

Proposition Number Twenty-six: Stirring up the 
emotions to recruit church members is not advis- 
able. Such methods of inducing people to reform 
their sinful ways should not be sanctioned by re- 
ligious organizations 126 

Proposition Number Twenty-seven : That God, not 
the personal God we worship, but the real God of 
the universe, will guide, control and protect us 
through the medium of the germ of life with which 
mankind is endowed. 129 



INDEX TO SERIES OF PROPOSITIONS 

Proposition Number Twenty-eight: That man 
should endeavor to hasten the process of develop- 
ing his mental and physical health and vigor, by 
abandoning the use of narcotics, strong drink, to- 
. bacco and other deleterients. He should bear in 
mind that both mental and bodily health may be 
derived from life, or that a lack of that influence 
may prove to be his undoing 133 

Proposition Number Twenty-nine: That church 
organizations, sects and cults should advocate prac- 
tical thought, as a means of promoting human 
welfare 136 

Proposition Number Thirty : That praying for the 
welfare of those we love, or for people in distress 
and in need of assistance, is a beautiful, commend- 
able custom that deserves to be perpetuated. But 
it is like praying for rain, abundant harvest, 
wealth, honors, or anything else outside of our own 
individual activities. The prayers will not be ans- 
wered 139 

Proposition Number Thirty-one: That there are 
several very good reasons why modern people do 
not become enthusiastic converts to the Christian 
and other religious organizations. . . .142 

Proposition Number Thirty-two: That the use of 
good common sense is essential to success in all 
undertakings, and as that attribute is a creation of 
mental training, strenuous efforts should be made 
to secure its development. . . . . . 145 

Proposition Number Thirty-three: That man 
spends too much of his time in wasting mental 
effort in freaks of imagination, or when indulging 
habits that result in mental injury. . . .148 



INDEX TO SERIES OF PROPOSITIONS 

Proposition N umber Thirty-four : That individ. 
ual effort is needed to free the world from its 
misery and distress. No money, no universal cam- 
paign is necessary to bring about that great reform. 
It may be accomplished by individual self-regener- 
ation 151 

Proposition Number Thirty-five: That the use of 
the divine mind in christian science healing is a 
delusion. Such an influence purporting to come 
from God has no existence. There is not now, and 
never has been, a divine mind subject to the de- 
mands and uses of humanity. . . . .154 

Proposition Number Thirty-six : That man should 
learn to do his own thinking, and not allow others 
to control and influence his conduct, frequently 
against his best interests 158 

Proposition Number Thirty-seven : That man 
should not use his mentality in such a way as to 
cause him to acquire a reputation for being whim- 
sical or impractical, nor employ it in developing 
a useless, imaginative disposition. . . .162 

Proposition Number Thirty-eight : That no man or 
woman should be permitted to marry who is 
mentally or physically deficient, or who is af- 
flicted with a disease or infirmity that may be in- 
herited 164 

Proposition Number Thirty-nine: That convicted 
criminals should never be permitted to return to 
private life, until they have been afforded oppor- 
tunity to regenerate their mentalities, and be in a 
fit condition to become worthy citizens. . . 167 



INDEX TO SERIES OF PROPOSITIONS 

Proposition Number Forty: That the mystery con- 
cerning the mental development of certain types of 
genius, and of young prodigies, may be explained 
by looking up the traits of character of their 
ancestors 170 

Proposition Number Forty-one: That profanity, the 
use of swear words, is an indication of a foul, un- 
couth mind, and its use should be abandoned. . 174 

Proposition Number Forty-two: That human love 
is supreme when properly developed, and that it is 
mankind's chief benefactor. When not recipro- 
cated, love becomes a distressing torment. . .176 

Proposition Number Forty-three: That prayers to 
saints and other mortals, who have departed this 
life, will not be answered. Only individual suppli- 
cations for mental and physical welfare will prove 
beneficial 179 

Proposition Number Forty-four: That man does 
much to prevent the enjoyment of a long life, and 
the full use of his mentality. . ... 181 

Proposition Number Forty-five: That intuition, 
mental instinct, is another proof that man's infor- 
mation and knowledge acquired from outside 
sources are attained by means of the five senses. . 183 

Proposition Number Forty-six : That the mental ac- 
tivity known as conscience results from natural 
causes. It is not a spiritual monitor that warns its 
possessor of his wrong doing and finally becomes 
an instrument of mental torture by prompting 
thoughts of remorse and penitence. . . . 185 

Proposition Number Forty-seven : That seeing spir- 
its, ghosts, apparitions, or wraiths of deceased rel- 
atives or others who have passed out of mortal life 
is a mental delusion 188 



INDEX TO SERIES OF PROPOSITIONS 

Proposition Number Forty-eight: That Christ was 
the greatest Exemplar of the prayer method of 
self -development, and His example should be strict- 
ly followed by all persons desirous of doing right. 191 

Proposition Number Forty-nine: That deformed 
and crippled people who came into the world in 
that condition are not responsible for their mis- 
fortunes, and that it is the duty of every person 
to make their burdens as light as possible by 
showing them attention, and by assisting them to 
look on the bright side of life 195 

Proposition Number Fifty: That there is a method 
of regenerating the mentality that will free it from 
the control of bad habits and cause its possessor to 
recover his mental strength and vigor. . . 198 

Proposition Number Fifty-one: That dreams are 
mental activities not under good control. They 
are meaningless except in one particular: They 
indicate disorders in one or more of our digestive, 
circulatory, or respiratory functions. . . . 200 

Proposition Number Fifty-two : That all prophecies 
and predictions not based on mathematical calcula- 
tions or reliable, first-hand information are purely 
guess-work and waste of mental energy. . . 203 

Proposition Number Fifty-three: That we must 
banish superstition and thoughts of attaining im- 
mortality by luck or chance, and resort to practical 
methods and efforts to prepare ourselves for the 
great unknown. 206 

Proposition Number Fifty-four: That changes are 
needed in the creeds, doctrines and declarations of 
our several religious organizations to enable them 
to regain popular favor and become instruments 
of greater good 209 



INDEX TO SERIES OF PROPOSITIONS 

Proposition Number Fifty-five: That two well 
known mental forces, hope and fear, have had 
much to do with releasing mankind from the thral- 
dom of sin and wickedness. The hope of immor- 
tality as a reward for right doing, and the fear 
of eternal punishment for acts of wrong doing, 
exercise a more powerful influence for human re- 
demption than pulpit oratory. That we must look 
to life for the immortal transcendency. Life is 
our Creator and is immortal and cannot be de- 
stroyed 213 

Finding the Real God : 

First Part 221 

Second Pare 228 



For the Good of the World 
Finding the Real God 

EXPLANATORY 

THE propositions presented to readers in this volume 
are not published for the purpose of attempting 
to establish a new form of religious belief. There 
are too many methods of religious worship now in com- 
mon use for the best interests of humanity. What really 
is needed for the good of the world is the application of 
practical thought to the consideration of religious wor- 
ship, and all other affairs pertaining to public and 
personal weal. It would be contrary to the dictates of 
good judgment to think that there is more than one God, 
or Supreme Creator, or to advocate that we may be 
transcended to immortality for any other reason than 
that of purity of mind and thought. It would be next to 
impossible for a human being controlled by animal ten- 
dencies and proclivities to be absolutely free from wrong 
doing. 

Man is an animal belonging to the vertebrate species. 
He procreates and exists by food sustenance, and is sub- 
ject to all of the changes incident to animal existence, 
and must necessarily be controlled by animal tendencies. 

All religious creeds and doctrines, past and present, 
are products of the human mind. They are the result of 
religious training acquired during the countless years of 
uplift that have elapsed since the creation of prehistoric 
man. It would be impossible to estimate the many 
changes of religious belief during that period, but there 
have been over three hundred different kinds of religious 
creeds and doctrines in use since the time of Christ. 



14 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WO RED 

These different statements of religious belief are off- 
shoots and modifications of the three great religions, 
Christianity, Islam and Buddhism, which supply relig- 
ious thought and comfort to at least two-thirds of 
humanity. Inasmuch as some of these religious declara- 
tions differ radically in their methods and theories of 
worship, and as these differences have been the cause of 
many wars and much distress and bloodshed, there could 
be no more convincing evidence that God had nothing to 
do with their fabulation, and that they are exclusively 
the handiwork of man. Had God actually handed down 
a form of religious worship to mankind there would now 
be only one religious belief and one form of worship in 
general use. That would be God's belief and worship. 

But the fact that God is not the creator of religious 
doctrines and creeds does not signify that there is no 
God, or Creator. Such a belief or claim is not justifi- 
able, and is a reprehensible mistake. A study of the 
universe, with its countless worlds, its limitless, incom- 
prehensible space, and its marvelous grandeur, is an as- 
suring method of ascertaining the existence of a Supreme 
Creator. A glance into the heavens at night where the 
numberless stars twinkle in their blanket of darkness, 
or a look at the beauties of nature with its diverse and 
varied forms of creative life, will add strength to the con- 
viction that God, or some other Supreme Influence, is 
our Creator. 

There is no authority for. the claim that God, or any 
other supernatural influence, guides or controls our mor- 
tal destinies. As previously stated, man is an animal and 
his activities, mental and physical, result from the use of 
cellular functions. There is nothing spiritual, phenomenal 
or mysterious about the manner in which we think, ac- 
quire knowledge and information, or do anything within 
our mental ability. All vertebrate animal life is possessed 
with the five senses, touch, taste, smell, sight and hear- 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 15 

ing. In addition to these senses, man was endowed with 
a sixth, or innate sense, which enables him to think, 
devise and invent, acquire information and knowledge, 
memorize, seek immortality and do other remarkable 
things. It is by the use of these senses that we develop 
and upbuild our mentalities. Watch the growth and 
development of a newly born infant to mature life, and 
it will be seen that all information and knowledge are 
acquired by the use of the six senses, except that in- 
herited from ancestors and handed down through the 
cells of the brain organ. Mental training by study, ob- 
servation, thought, inheritance, experience, and other 
uses of the mentality is the result of brain and nerve cell 
development. Cellular force, mental energy, is acquired 
by the constant and persistent use of the mind. The cells 
are actuated and made useful by thought concentration, 
or to be more explicit, by the use of the sixth sense. No 
outside or extraneous influence will actuate brain and 
nerve cells. For that reason there could be no mind 
reading, telepathy, mental healing by other persons, or 
by the divine mind. 

Mental training means the development of the mind 
for one of two uses, either for right, or for wrong doing. 
All of our thoughts, impulses, acts and deeds are the 
products of brain and nerve cell activity. The ability 
to create thought and to perform acts and deeds results 
from the practice of mental training. Any thought, act 
or deed for right doing adds strength to the mind, creates 
mental vigor and promotes personal and public good. 
Thoughts and deeds for wrong doing have a contrary 
effect. Right doing creates and upbuilds. Wrong doing 
harms and destroys. Thoughts of right doing inspire 
acts and deeds that create health, happiness and pros- 
perity. Thoughts of wrong doing mar personal comfort, 
prevent mental upbuilding, and prompt acts and deeds 
that inflict injury to self and to others. 



16 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

The mentality measures the man and announces both 
his worth and unworthiness. Mental training is either 
the cause of our upbuilding, or of our downfall. Our 
minds are developed for good or for evil purposes by 
experience, study, observation and the acquirement of 
information and knowledge as we pass through life. 
There positively is no other means of mental training, 
or of receiving mental development. That development 
is due to the enlivening, strengthening and energizing 
of brain and nerve cells actuated by our own mental 
efforts. The brain organ, which is the seat of mental 
energy, is an ancestral inheritance. Life, energy, en- 
durance, health, ability to think and act, power to per- 
form, and the control of mental and physical functions 
are all creatures of brain and nerve cell activities. We 
do what mental effort dictates, and are either beneficiaries 
or victims of our own mental training. The mentality 
creates thought, and thoughts prompt deeds. As we think, 
so will we act. 

The importance of mental training for right doing 
must be apparent. There is no source from which to 
receive guidance of thought or deed, except from our 
own mentalities. Their activities give us life, comfort, 
happiness, ability and all else that is good and beneficial, 
when properly developed. The popular belief that God 
inspires, controls and protects humanity is a grave, seri- 
ous and misleading mistake. We are creatures of our 
own mental activities, solely and entirely. There is no 
extraneous influence, divine, supernatural, or otherwise 
to guide, protect and control us. As children of nature, 
we are subject to the incidents and vicissitudes of natural 
laws. These laws are inexorable. Not even God, the 
Creator, intervenes to change, alter or stay their pro- 
cesses. Man or mountain, forest or flower, world or 
worm, and all else creative must come and go in accord- 
ance with its ability to resist the buffets of nature. There 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 17 

has never been, and could not now be, divine interference 
with this immutable, unchangeable creative condition. 
The only hope man has of being salvaged from nature's 
scheme of upgrowth and destruction, of continuous re- 
building and downfall, rests in the endowment of his 
superior mentality. 

The prevailing religious belief holds that man was 
created after the image of God, and therefore is eligible 
to salvation. That may be true, but the claim cannot 
be substantiated. We do not know God, nor do we 
understand that He is a personal God, or a creative 
Influence. The bible, sacred in the minds of worship- 
pers, describes the majesty and grandeur of God, and 
states that Moses, and others of the biblical prophets, 
received communications from Him. Miracles and simi- 
lar divine manifestations are mentioned in the bible, 
and among them is the immaculate conception and birth 
of Christ, the son of God. Other religious beliefs that 
differ with Christianity in doctrine, theory, and practice, 
also have their prophets, patriarchs and miracle workers. 
But all of these religious incidents and events are of an 
age long since past. They happened at a time when 
there was no reliable means of preserving fact and truth 
concerning that age. Since then there has been great 
progress made in the development of the human mind, 
as well as in other earthly affairs. Events that were 
looked upon as miracles in bible days are no longer re- 
garded as supernatural. Wireless messages are now 
plucked from the air. Cylinders of wax and composite 
circular plates are made to talk. Huge, heavy machines 
propel themselves above the clouds. Conveyances speed 
over the roads without the use of man or animal power. 
People talk over a wire at distances of thousands, or 
less, of miles. Human beings are restored to life after 
having apparently met death by drowning, asphyxiation 
and other causes. Sight is frequently restored to per- 



18 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

sons who have lost the use of their eyes, and similar 
man-miracles are of common occurrence. These and 
other phenomena are the results of mental development, 
of mental training. They no longer excite wonder, or 
are attributed to a divine source, although they are as 
marvelous in execution and importance as were the 
miracle happenings described in the bible. The truth 
may not always be found in religious doctrines and 
teachings, because they are invariably the work of man. 
The human mind is not reliable. Man's conclusions are 
sometimes incorrect. 

A mentality may be developed and largely purified of 
its animal propensities, but it can never receive, or be 
subject to divine inspiration, or other extraneous influ- 
ences. The Creator, in His construction of the brain 
organ and its uses, has provided against such a possibility. 
Brain and nerve cells are immune to any but individual 
endeavor. They cann t be actuated, energized or made 
use of except by the personal effort of their possessor. 
Were this not true, God would inspire us with ability 
and strength to do right in all of our undertakings. He 
would fill our minds with thoughts and desires that 
would cause us to be happy and contented. He would 
abolish disease and wrong doing, and inaugurate an era 
of peace and good will on earth, or elsewhere in His 
realms. Read your bible and decide if that would not 
be the work of a good, just and merciful God, had He 
the power to do so. Better yet, would a good, just and 
merciful God have created mortals after his own image 
who would be susceptible to all of the sins, temptations, 
wickedness and other wrong doing incident to human 
life? 

The entire human mental structure is permeated with 
misbelief, false theories, incorrect understanding of crea- 
tive existence, blind faith in doctrinal teachings, inherited 
superstitions, professional humbug, and an unbounded 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 19 

desire to worship and be guided by a personal God. 
Trusting to luck in everything but earning an honest 
livelihood is a common practice. Depending upon chance 
for our mental reformation is a rule and not an exception. 
Necessity compels us to be practical, studious, persistent 
and energetic if we would succeed in business or profes- 
sional pursuits. But when it comes to purging our minds 
of harmful influences, we are prone to refer the task to 
our spiritual advisers. Practical religious thought does 
not interest us. The solution of such problems is left 
to persons whose mental training has been narrowed 
down to some particular religious theory or doctrine. 
So indifferent and neglectful are we of our own freedom 
of thought on the vital question of mental upbuilding for 
right doing, that we are willing, and frequently eager, to 
be deceived by christian science, new thought, spirit- 
ualism, telepathy, mind reading and other semi-religious 
theories that are constantly being concocted and advo- 
cated. Not one of these alleged divine manifestations is 
possible under existing conditions. Thought cannot be 
read or transferred, except through the use of the five 
senses. Thought is safely housed in the brain organ, 
where it may only be awakened by cellular activity. That 
activity results from personal, individual endeavor. There 
is no deviation from this fixed and unalterable rule. 
Human beings are alike in physical make-up. Brain 
organs are inherited functions. Their cellular develop- 
ments may differ, but their uses, energizing and actuat- 
ing are subject to the same process. The mental effort 
of one individual cannot pass to another. Deception is the 
name of everything that advocates differently. 

Humanity needs more practical thought in the consid- 
eration of religious and divine subjects. Man stands 
solely as a creature of nature, and is absolutely without 
divine protection and guidance from extraneous sources. 
He was endowed with a superior mentality, which 



20 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

affords him strength and ability to care for himself and 
those dependent on him. Therefore, man should apply 
his thought and mental ability to the solution of life's 
problems, and not rely on theoretical and doctrinal fal- 
lacies for moral and physical support. The first and 
most important principle to be adopted and adhered to 
in the mental practice of self-reliance, is the truth and 
fact that there is no divine protection in mortal life. We 
are taught that God is good, just, merciful and forgiving, 
but there is no indication of His ability to grant these 
benefactions to mankind. Look at the numberless hor- 
rors and tragedies that have beset humanity since the 
beginning, and then decide if there is proof of God's 
mercy, love and protection. These countless deeds of 
violence, bloodshed and destruction have reached the 
innocent as well as the guilty, and the claim cannot be 
upheld that they were inflicted as punishment. As fur- 
ther proof that God does not protect and guide His 
mortal children, witness the calamities, horrors, scourges 
and other great and lamentable occurrences which are 
constantly taking place throughout the world. Nothing 
has ever been done, except by the hand of man, to 
prevent these horrible disasters, or to alleviate the sor- 
rows and suffering they have brought on humanity. 
Accept the truth, bitter and objectionable as it may seem. 
God does not personally guide, control, interfere or 
intervene in mankind's affairs. 

Much has been said within the last few years about 
the influence of the divine mind in healing disease, and 
in ameliorating human and other distress. This new 
theory is apparently a side issue of Christianity, and is 
alleged to be a revival of the healing method practiced 
by Christ. We must then presume that the divine mind 
is the function of a personal God. If there is a personal 
God, there possibly is a divine mind, but where is that 
God, and what is the cause of His existence? A divine 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 21 

mind should be used for other purposes than the healing 
of human diseases at so much per head. As a matter 
of fact there is no divine mind, no divine cellular activity 
similar to the one that prompts human thoughts and 
deeds. An influence powerful enough to create, guide 
and control the universe would be far above and beyond 
mortal comprehension. Its activities would not be con- 
fined to healing diseases, nor would they be limited to 
the use of licensed healers. 

The fiction of a divine mind is doubtless due to the 
mystery connected with the origin, energizing and uses 
of human thought. Man as well as most other animals 
of land life is possessed with developed ability to utter 
sound in a greater or less degree. The extent and charac- 
ter of these utterances depend largely on the uses to be 
made of the sound. There probably is no thought con- 
nected with the utterance of sound by the lower orders 
of animal life. Instinct doubtless prompts the utterances 
to be used as warnings, calls, songs, trills, chirpings 
and other signals that necessity may demand. The in- 
stinct to make use of these varied sounds or utterances 
passes to progeny through the process of procreation. 
Man was endowed with greater brain cellular force and 
therefore is possessed with stronger and more capable 
mental ability. His power to energize and control 
thought is an inherited function, but it must be developed 
and made useful by a system of mental training. Man's 
brain cellular functions have been gradually and slowly 
created and upbuilded during the long and undetermined 
period of his existence. This gain in mental strength 
has been transferred by heritage to succeeding genera- 
tions, each successive generation being benefited accord- 
ingly. Thought and the ability to use it is an inherited 
function, but it must be developed before it becomes 
useful. Man also inherits power of speech, together 
with his vocal organs. The ability of man to think and 



22 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

talk passes from parent to child. The bird inherits its 
song trills, the dog its bark, the coyote its howl, the lion 
its roar, and the horse its whinny. In fact, life itself 
with its vicissitudes is an inheritance. Everything with 
creative existence lives its life over and over, carrying 
to each successive generation the development or deca- 
dence incident to the previous existence. In that way the 
world and its habitants are upbuilded or destroyed dur- 
ing the lapse of time. 

The divine mind is not instrumental in sustaining life 
or in healing disease, because there is no such influence. 
Any effort that will induce thought to expel from 
the mind harmful impressions will have a beneficial 
effect on the person thus influenced. Mental healing 
will prove to be a reality to individuals attempting to 
heal themselves. Good thought has a salutary effect. 
But it is always better to consult a doctor familiar with 
human physical ailments before taking chances on cures 
that may not be effected by imaginary influences. 

In these criticisms of semi-religious shams and mis- 
representations, let it be understood that there is no 
desire to cast reflections on bona-fide efforts to uplift 
human thought. The easiest way to upbuild the mind 
is to cause it to drop religious and other practices that 
promote misbelief and false theories. Church worship 
should be sincere and truthful before it will arrive at 
the fullest extent of its usefulness. Blind faith in bible 
stories which have been disproved by scientific research 
will never upbuild morality and create better men and 
women. Every legitimate, worthy attempt to advocate 
truth and uprightness should be encouraged and made 
beneficial. Public meetings held for the purpose of 
educating people to cast off the bondage of sin, deceit 
and wrong doing should become a fixture in our daily 
routine of life. But how could such meetings become 
popular when pulpit declarations are made that the world 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 23 

was created in six days, that no person may be saved who 
does not accept the blood atonement, and that every 
word in the bible is God's truth? These and other mis- 
leading statements may be heard in almost any pulpit 
address. Blind faith in God's intervention has never 
stopped the ravages of pestilence, prevented a flood or 
an earthquake, caused the cessation of a war, or saved 
mankind from the horrors that have beset the world. 
Blind faith in God's help has never built a house, ploughed 
a field or opened the way to prosperity. Blind faith in 
false theories is not an attribute to be cherished and 
relied upon. Blind faith in any religious declaration will 
not guide its victim to immortality and leave believers 
in truth and fact by the wayside. Blind faith in any one 
particular religion to the exclusion of others indicates a 
lack of practical thought, good judgment and respect for 
the religious convictions of those who differ in their 
methods of worship. 

Seeking transcendency from mortal life is an important 
undertaking, which should be treated with the same care- 
ful, practical thought with which we consider business 
propositions. No mortal has ever been endowed with 
power to grant to others absolution from sin and wrong 
doing, and as individuals we must solve that problem 
and find our own way to immortality. Church member- 
ship and worship provide excellent and commendable 
methods for subduing sinful tendencies and inclinations, 
and every form of religious belief that has for its pur- 
pose the salvation of man is entitled to freedom of 
thought and unlimited opportunity for worship. But it 
should be understood that all doctrines, creeds, and 
religious declarations are solely and entirely the work 
of man. They are creations of the human mind and do 
not emanate from a divine source. There should be no 
difficulty in selecting a satisfactory form of religious 
belief by those desirous of abandoning habits and ten- 



24 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

dencies that lead to wrong doing. Any religion that 
has for its object the promotion of human welfare will 
prove to be the proper selection. 

In this day of intellectual enlightenment nearly every 
sane, well informed person has deeply implanted in his 
mind a strong desire to become worthy of a future life. 
That desire is the seed from which immortality may be 
grown. All that is required to develop and strengthen 
that desire, and cause it to become the controlling in- 
fluence of the mind, is to cultivate it by means of prayer- 
ful mental effort. That statement explains the theory 
and practice of mental regeneration. As previously stated 
there can be but two controls of the human mind. .One 
control prompts every act, thought, impulse and deed 
for right doing. The other control causes us to do wrong 
in thought, act and deed. These two opposing mental 
influences, or controls, are the source of our happiness 
and sorrows, of our good fortune and of our distress, 
of our worthiness and of our sinfulness. They are con- 
stantly prompting thoughts, acts, impulses and deeds; 
and the influence, or control, that eventually becomes the 
stronger is the one that will make up our final life record. 
We do right, or wrong, according to our mental prompt- 
ings. We are slaves to the demands of our mentalities. 
Mental desires for right or for wrong doing are our 
inexorable masters, and frequent submission to the in- 
fluence of these desires will cause them to become habits 
which will either upbuild or wreck our lives. Prompt- 
ings, desires and habits are creatures of our brain and 
nerve cell activities. Thoughts, impulses, acts and deeds 
come from this same source. It may truly be said that 
the fountain head of our existence can be found in the 
brain organ. That function not only supplies our mental 
activities, but it also keeps our circulative, respirative 
and digestive systems in operation. 

Mental strength to do right, or wrong, in all their 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 25 

volume and degrees of activity, is acquired by energizing 
and actuating the cells and nerves of the brain organ. 
Mental force to energize these cells results from the use 
of the six senses. Mental ability is the sum and substance 
of what we are able to do with our minds, or mentalities, 
and through its use we will succeed in overcoming ten- 
dencies and inclinations for wrong doing by exerting 
proper mental effort to do so. When cellular activities 
for wrong doing dominate and control the mentality, it 
will be necessary to change that control by developing 
and strengthening cells for right doing, that they may 
subjugate and render the objectionable cells inoperative 
and harmless. The desire for wrong doing must be over- 
come by upbuilding a stronger desire for right doing. 
That means a change of mental control for self-better- 
ment. This change may be accomplished by causing the 
cellular influence for right doing to supplant the control 
of the cellular activities for wrong doing. When the 
change of mental control is made, all desires for wrong 
doing will cease. This mental regeneration is wholly 
and completely a physical process. It is nothing more, 
or less, than the changing of mental control by develop- 
ing and strengthening one set of brain cells to subjugate 
the cellular influence of another set. 

Mental regeneration, or reformation, is distinctly a one- 
man task. The individual striving to bring about the 
regeneration must necessarily develop and actuate his 
own brain cells. That mental effort cannot be relegated 
to another person. We may be advised how to live, act 
and think in order to facilitate the operation of mental 
regeneration, but we cannot receive actual relief, or abso- 
lution from the results of our own individual wrong 
doing from a supernatural or other source. As individ- 
uals, we must travel along life's pathway receiving only 
such assistance, relief and comfort as may be had by 
natural means and methods. We belong to nature, and 



26 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

are in no way connected or associated with the super- 
natural, and so far as our existence is concerned we are 
no different from other earthly creatures. Our pro- 
creation, birth, growth, development, demise and deca- 
dence are in accordance with natural laws. That is 
precisely the earthly experience of all forms of creative 
life. Because we are possessed with superior brain cellu- 
lar ability does not entitle us to the belief that we belong 
to a species especially under the control and guidance 
of a divine influence. Whatever supernatural or un- 
known ability we exercise is innate, and is a part of our 
own individual nature. It is an endowment that places 
us on the highest level of animal existence, but this 
superior mental ability does not exempt us from the 
changes, incidents and vicissitudes that beset all earthly 
creations. 

There is this hope, which may meet with fruition and 
entitle us to immortality. If the innate mental ability 
with which we are possessed can be developed to such 
an extent as to overcome our bestial natures, and free 
us from tendencies and inclinations for wrong doing, 
there is good reason to believe that we will be worthy of 
transcendency after mortality. Worthy or unworthy of 
an immortal future, there is consolation in knowing that 
a life of well doing brings its own reward. Happiness, 
contentment, good health, freedom from mental distress, 
and an ability to prosper and be serviceable in promoting 
public welfare are surely worth seeking. They are within 
the mental grasp of every person willing to make the 
effort to attain them. The method of securing such 
valuable means of earthly enjoyment is simple, practical 
and worth trying. 

Mental effort is all that is required to convert the self- 
evident sinner into a self-respecting mortal. The task 
will be difficult, protracted and frequently disappointing, 
but time, patience and persistent endeavor will success- 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 27 

fully bring about the change. The way to overcome a 
mental influence for wrong doing has already been ex- 
plained. The means to be employed in performing that 
duty is found in the use of devout, earnest, sincere prayer. 
The prayer should be addressed to Life, although the 
title of God, Our Father, Christ, or Our Divine Protector, 
may be used and accomplish the same result. Life should 
be the preference, because that influence gives us 
strength and ability to actuate and develop brain cellular 
strength to overcome tendencies for wrong doing. Life 
is a local function in all living, earthly creations, and its 
power to cause existence is confined to the object of its 
beneficence. Life does not permeate the air, or float 
around loosely ready to enliven a new creation. But it 
causes the existence of everything capable of animate 
existence, and is communicated to successive reproduc- 
tions and procreations by methods known to every 
person. 

One significant reason why we should invoke life 
to give us strength to do right, to see the right, to feel 
the right, to know the right, to think right and to live 
right is that the impregnated germ of mortal life was 
the cause of our individual creation, and without that life 
our existence would cease. Vigorous life affords us 
health, strength, activity and energy to make ourselves 
useful and worthy. And as the mentality is the fountain 
head of our mental and physical activities it would seem 
practical to use it in imploring Life, our Creator, for 
greater strength and ability to make creditable use of 
His benefaction. When through the process of procrea- 
tion we were endowed with life, we also received our 
mental and physical functions in an undeveloped state. 
Our forms, features, brain organs, senses, and all else 
within our beings, that we now possess, were embodied 
for future development in that procreative germ. The 
birth that brought us into existence, also ushered us 



28 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

into the world as living units of humanity. From that 
moment we became creatures of an independent, individ- 
ual existence, subject to no power or influence not found 
in nature. 

Life was inherited, as were all mental and physical 
functions, and by the use of that inheritance we develop 
and upbuild ability to think, acquire knowledge and in- 
formation, move, act and do everything we learn to do. 
The power to do right, or wrong, is a part of that inherit- 
ance, and for that reason life impels all of our activities, 
good, indifferent or otherwise, and the brain cellular 
functions supply the motor energy which actuates and 
controls our every act, thought and deed. Should any 
cellular or physical function be weakened by misuse, dis- 
sipation, excess, or disease, the ability of life to energize 
that particular function by means of the mentality will 
be lessened. These facts are familiar to readers, but the 
point to be made, in this argument, is that life is our 
creative agent, also the promoter of our existence, and 
while remedies may be taken to alleviate pain and dis- 
tress, and to check the ravages of diseases, we must in- 
evitably look to life for strength, health, comfort and 
ability to prosper. Life keeps our mental engine active, 
and that engine supplies energy to upbuild mental and 
physical strength. 

The necessity for developing mental strength to do 
right must be apparent. Brain cellular developments for 
right doing do not inflict injury through the use of their 
activities. They do not prompt thoughts and deeds that 
cause mental and physical decadence. They do not cause 
their possessors to do wrong to others. Their influence 
is for upbuilding and promoting personal and public 
welfare. Brain cellular energy that prompts and causes 
wrong doing is destructive both to its possessors and to 
everything with which it comes in contact. Evil thoughts 
prompt evil deeds. Acts and deeds that create bad habits 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 29 

destroy health and happiness. They also work injury 
to others, and bring distress to the world. The panacea 
for all evil rests in individual reformation, in brain and 
nerve cell regeneration. Good health, strong mental 
energy, ability to accomplish, to be happy and contented, 
and to procreate strong, healthy progen}^ depend en- 
tirely upon the possession of well and rightly developed 
mentalities. Not mentalities that are erratic, or show 
indications of a one-sided development, but mentalities 
that are in a normal condition and which are energized 
by vigorous life. 

The use of prayer to upbuild and energize the mind 
is in itself a study. Prayers for others, or for public weal, 
will not prove effective. Each and every person is a unit 
within himself, and has no means of communicating by 
word, thought, or deed with another person, except by 
use of the five senses. There is no divine mind by which 
prayers or communications may be circulated. There is 
no personal God, with power to control either the ele- 
ments or the activities of man. The steadfast, continu- 
ous neglect of God to protect mankind from dangers and 
perils, and His failure to guide us into ways of peace 
and good will, should put an end to such a belief. The 
mentality, the creator of both our weal and our woe, 
was given to man for his protection and with which to 
work out his own salvation. That brain organ with its 
countless cells, from which mental ability emanates, is 
like a sealed book so far as its knowledge is concerned. 
A mind cannot be read or influenced from outside sources. 
All thought and suggestion must necessarily reach the 
brain cells through the use of the senses. The method 
of instructing deaf, dumb and blind people ought to 
convince investigators of that fact. 

Earnest, sincere prayer, well considered, and uttered 
in seclusion and alone, will influence and strengthen the 
mind. The object of prayer is to solicit protection and 



30 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

guidance. Usually this influence is expected from a 
divine source. That could not be possible, but men- 
tal strength may be upbuilded that will prove both a 
guide and a protector. Care must be taken to pre- 
vent the upbuilding for wrong purposes. Prayer is 
a mental effort, and it may be an appeal for mental 
strength for wrong doing. Strength to do right, to 
see tne right, to know the right, to think right and to 
live right should be invoked. Appeals for strength to 
be sincere, honest and truthful also are recommended. 
These suggestions should represent the full intent of the 
implorations. No other supplications are essential. The 
prayer should be repeated as often as practical, not 
loudly or with vehemence, but sincerely, thoughtfully, 
and with as much earnestness as is possible to put into 
language. The purpose of the prayer is to enliven the 
mentality, and upbuild a never ceasing desire to do right 
in thought and deed. That desire should displace mental 
promptings for wrong doing, and at the same time stop 
brain cell activities that cause ill health, and mental and 
physical decadence. Praying new cellular energy into 
the mentality is a slow and sometimes a discouraging 
duty, but it is a sure cure, if persisted in, for bad habits, 
and other tendencies that cause wrong doing. The change 
is brought about by a physical process. New cellular 
activities must be created and developed to take the 
place of those which have been instigating objectionable 
thoughts and deeds. 

When invoking mental strength for right doing avoid 
meaningless, profuse and unnecessary language. Pray 
for life, mental strength and good health through the 
creation and development of cellular energy. Use mental 
force to make the prayers efficacious. Pray earnestly 
and sincerely, but not loudly. The words may be whis- 
pered in order not to attract attention. Pray for yourself 
and not for the benefit of others. Many people pray 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 31 

to hear themselves talk. The use of eloquent language 
in a prayer may be pleasant to listen to, but it is not 
in keeping with the object of the invocation. Praying 
for other things than self-upbuilding is also a waste of 
words. Pray in simple language to be worthy, to do 
right, to be guided and to know and see the right. Pray 
for strength to be honest and truthful, and your prayers 
will be answered by a mental uplift that will lead you 
into paths of good will and right doing. 

There is a difference between individual brain cellular 
regeneration and religious reformation, although the 
latter method is commendable and has caused mankind 
to rise above the thralls of a semi-animal existence. 
Brain cellular regeneration upbuilds a permanent mental 
control that prevents wrong doing. As long as the con- 
trol is maintained by prayerful supplications, there will 
be no relapse from the intent to do right, and no mental 
conflicts with temptation. Religious reformation by 
church worship simply holds the desire to do wrong in 
restraint. The reformation is accomplished by emo- 
tional methods. There is no fixed and effective process 
of creating and developing new cellular influences. Many 
of the converts fall from grace as soon as they cease 
attending church service and no longer fraternize with 
religious associates. Such a conversion from tendencies 
for wrong doing is not lasting unless the convert is kept 
under religious influences. Mental regeneration by cellu- 
lar development overcomes and banishes the cause for 
wrong doing. Bad habits and sinful inclinations cease 
because there is no mental control to incite them. Should 
there be a relapse it would be caused by another develop- 
ment of an objectionable brain cellular control, which 
would require time and opportunity to create. 

Care should be taken not to refer to acts of wrong 
doing when beseeching strength for self-betterment. The 
mind should be free from such thoughts to avoid the 



32 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

possibility of keeping them from becoming influential 
in controlling the mental activities. All mental cellular 
developments become fixtures in the mind as long as 
the brain organ is capable of being energized. This ability 
to retain thought is known as memory, and by means 
of its activities we acquire and retain information 
and knowledge, and create a record of our individual 
observation and experiences. The mind, or mentality, is 
the storehouse in which are registered the events, inci- 
dents and experiences of our mortal existence. These 
events and incidents, together with our educational 
acquirements, may be recalled at any time by mental 
effort as long as our mentalities are active and control- 
lable. Mental health is absolutely essential to cellular 
activity. Mental perturbances of every form and nature 
result from brain cellular disease and decadence. The 
only remedy for this mental failing is to adopt a regen- 
erative method of enlivening the brain cellular activities. 
It cannot be done by medical, psychological or other 
extraneous treatment. To tamper with the brain organ- 
ism by physical means would be destructive to life, 
because that organism is the seat of our individual ac- 
tivity. To dose it with drugs and nostrums is a milder 
form of cellular destruction. To treat a brain affliction 
by extraneous mental science is an utter impossibility. 
It would be as easy to change the language of a book 
by thinking about it as it would be to actuate the brain 
cells of another person by other than his own mental 
effort. The only way to heal mental ills and to enliven 
and strengthen brain cellular activities is to upbuild 
personal mental energy for right doing. That must be 
done by individual endeavor. The mind should be 
energized by a strong mental effort to overcome thoughts 
and influences that are both distracting and destructive. 
The mental trend of thought and deed should be changed. 
Thoughts for self-upbuilding, self-restraint and self- 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 33 

respect must be substituted for thoughts that cause 
mental and physical distress. There is no better way 
to effect this change and to upbuild mental and physical 
health than to exercise and energize the mind by sincere, 
earnest, heartfelt prayer. Life inspires, energizes, invig- 
orates and strengthens our physical and mental activities. 
The germ of mortal life that created and caused our 
existence as units of humanity is still embodied in our 
beings. It is the power that affords us ability to pro- 
create, exist, remain active, and to protect ourselves 
from impending perils. That germ was a gift of the 
Creator to humanity to be used for our safety and salva- 
tion. To what better purpose could it be employed than 
to arouse its activities for self-preservation by the use 
of sincere prayer? 

The germ of mortal life is the endowment that sep- 
arates and divides into species the various forms and 
types of creative existence. It also enlivens and causes 
these different species to become distinct and never 
changing units in their varied reproductions and pro- 
creations. One distinct form of unit creation will not 
reproduce or procreate with another form. Each type 
or species of family unit life must necessarily remain in- 
dependent of other types, so far as change of individuality 
is concerned. In this way the varied forms of creative 
existence are divided into unchangeable, unalterable 
types of family units. There can be no mixing or inter- 
mingling of their reproductive or procreative relations. 
The germ of mortal life bestowed on the human family 
causes us to be supreme in worldly affairs. We dominate 
all other creative existence and consider ourselves as 
especially privileged and protected. That feeling of exal- 
tation is warranted and proper. We possess mentalities 
of a nature not to be found in other animal creations, 
and it clearly indicates that the germ of mortal life with 
which we were endowed was bestowed for the purpose of 



34 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

fitting ourselves for a still higher transcendency. Should 
that be true this immortal benefaction would be the re- 
sult of the good influences created by the mentality, 
which the germ of mortal life had invigorated. We are 
therefore justified in imploring life to give us strength 
and ability to do right, to know the right and to live 
right that we may prepare ourselves for future salvation. 

The thought may suggest itself that brain cellular 
regeneration might not prove to be as beneficial to hu- 
manity as religious conversion, through church worship 
and ceremonials, should it ever become popular. There is 
a difference in these two methods of mental reformation. 
Brain cellular regeneration prepares its adherents for 
immortality by freeing the mind from the control of evil 
influences. Emotional reformation causes its advocates 
to restrain harmful tendencies by attending religious 
meetings and similar devotional exercises, at which doc- 
trinal teachers advocate their particular form of religion. 
There are a number of different forms and doctrines of 
religious belief. But should the adoption of individual 
brain cellular regeneration become universal, the great- 
est and most important benefit to be derived would be 
the general use of practical thought, and the absolute 
banishment from the public mind of all false religious 
theories and doctrines. There would then be a wonderful 
uplift in worldly affairs. Practical thought is the creator 
of right doing and all else that is beneficial and worthy, 
and practical thought is the product of brain cellular 
regeneration. It is the emanation of a mental control 
free from influences that distract and destroy the good 
results of human endeavor. Brain cellular regeneration 
upbuilds practical thought, right doing and all else that 
gives us comfort, conveniences and sane enjoyment. That 
is more than our present diverse methods of religious 
worship accomplish. 

An objection to the methods of mental regeneration 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 35 

advocated in this volume may be urged by followers of 
the christian and other religious organizations by state- 
ments that it would obviate the necessity of organized 
religion, and render its good work valueless as a public 
reformer. That could not be possible. Organized religion 
is the fundament of our social and political structure, 
and for that reason is indispensable to public welfare. 
The real good to be accomplished by cellular regener- 
ation by individual endeavor is to banish from the mind 
thoughts of superstition, reliance on divine guidance, 
religious shams and other delusions that impair our 
ability to upbuild the mentality and develop mental 
strength to overcome all forms of wrong doing. No con- 
scientious person could object to such a manner of serv- 
ing humanity. 

The method of mental regeneration, and the causes 
that render it necessary, are explained in several of the 
propositions published in this volume. These repetitions 
are deemed essential to impress readers with their im- 
portance. A careful and thorough investigation of brain 
and nerve cell control, and its varied effects and influences 
on human activities, is earnestly requested. The sooner 
intelligent people convince themselves that there is no 
supernatural influence, and that man is a super-animal 
subject only to natural laws, the better it will be for 
human welfare. 

Charles Gerard Conn. 
Los Angeles, California, 

January 3, 1919. 



36 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER ONE 

THAT MAN HAS EXISTED FOR MORE THAN FIVE HUNDRED 
THOUSAND YEARS, AND THAT THE SKELETAL RELICS OF 
PREHISTORIC MAN, TOGETHER WITH FULL INFOR- 
MATION CONCERNING THEIR DISCOVERIES, MAY 
BE FOUND IN SEVERAL EUROPEAN MUSEUMS 

IN an article as brief and limited in detailed descrip- 
tion as this one must be, it would be impossible to 
give readers an intelligent understanding of the 
origin and development of prehistoric man. Records to be 
found in the physical anthropological departments of 
every museum, university and college in all of the prin- 
cipal countries show conclusively that historic man has 
lived only a day, when his existence is compared with that 
of his prehistoric ancestors. The history of man for which 
we have authenticated records dates back less than seven 
thousand years. Research, paleontological and geological 
investigations have demonstrated that prehistoric man, or 
the stock from which he sprang, existed over five hundred 
thousand years ago. The ape-man of Java, also designated 
as the Trinil man, a pre-human creature, is known to have 
existed during the Pliocene age, or what is better known 
as the tertiary period. This brute man probably possessed 
little or no mental development, and doubtless clubbed his 
way through life, when in search of food, or in self-defense. 
The next man of whom skeletal relics have been found 
existed about 250,000 years later and is described as the 
Heidelberg man. This nearer relative to modern man came 
from the first human race known to have inhabited Western 
Europe, about the time of the second interglacial, or warm 
period. Then, after another one hundred thousand or more 
years, the race to which the Piltdown man belonged existed 
in what is now known as England, and the skeletal remains 
of one of these still nearer human beings was discovered 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 37 

at Sussex. The Piltdown man must have existed during 
the early Pliocene age, according to the fauna found with 
the skeletal relics. After another jump of fifty thousand 
years, more or less, the cave-dwelling tribe of hunters known 
as the Neanderthal race lived in that part of Europe now 
known as France. It is said that this race existed more 
than one hundred thousand years ago, and that certain 
caves in France were occupied continuously by them for 
over fifty thousand years. The next race of prehistoric man 
to become known to anthropological discovery was the Cro- 
Magnon type. This race of men probably existed twenty- 
five or thirty thousand years ago, and it is said to have been 
the best developed and most intellectual of the prehistoric 
races. The Cro-Magnon people were famous hunters, and 
also possessed noteworthy artistic ability, as their carvings, 
drawings and paintings of animal life, on the walls of caves 
inhabited by them, plainly indicate. After the Cro-Magnon 
race disappeared, as did all previous prehistoric races, there 
came into Western Europe large numbers or migrations of 
human beings from Asia, Eastern Europe, and possibly 
Africa. It is not known from what races the white man 
sprung. Later on scientific research will probably make that 
discovery. 

That prehistoric man existed during the hundreds of 
thousands of years beginning with the later tertiary period 
of earthly development, there can be no doubt. At the time 
of that period, which followed the Reptile age, also known 
as the Mammal age, there was great forest growth, and the 
warm climate gave impetus to the creation of animal life. 
Then came tremendous physical earthly changes. Convul- 
sions of the earth's surface created new continents and 
submerged others. Oceans covered new parts of land and 
gave up others to alter. old landmarks. The ice caps of the 
north pole sent glacial slides over certain regions, and 
changed temperate to frigid zones. There were at least 
three and probably four glacial periods, known as the ice 



38 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

age. Thousands of years intervened between these periods, 
when there would be warm or temperate climates in West- 
ern Europe. It was during these warm periods that pre- 
historic man existed and thrived, and the earth and rock 
strata formed during these warm intervals have enabled 
geologists and paleontologists to fix the age of the skeletal 
relics of the different types of prehistoric man that have 
been discovered. 

Nothing is known about the languages used, or the re- 
ligious customs of prehistoric man. It may be presumed 
that language among the Trinil and Heidelberg races must 
have been very primitive and probably was confined to lim- 
ited and necessary uses. The vocabulary was doubtless in- 
creased as the mentality became developed and cellular activ- 
ities were made possible. Ability to think also was very lim- 
ited, as it is now found among present ignorant, uncultured 
people. Mental development and culture are a question of 
long training. See the thousands upon thousands of years 
required by mankind to reach its present intellectual status. 
What then must have been the mental condition of pre- 
historic man ? There was undoubtedly a suggestion, or pos- 
sibly a mental religious impression, of a divine influence. 
The worship of God could not in those prehistoric ages 
have been established. Primitive forms of worship might 
later have been developed in the Cro-Magnon and other 
races that followed in the last stages of prehistory. But 
religious worship and thought are a result of mental train- 
ing, and prehistoric man lacked both brain development and 
opportunity to become religious. Warlike, savage people, 
who subsist on animal food, could not be expected to be 
influenced by thoughts of God, or of a future existence, 
unless in a primitive, rudimentary manner. That may 
have been the reason why prehistoric man remained in a 
savage state for so long a period. Religious worship, 
thoughts of a divine influence, and an effort to become 
worthy of immortality are the cause of such wonderful 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 39 

strides in modern mental development. It was not until 
after the beginning of the christian era, that human ability 
began to upbuild by leaps and bounds. Since that time, al- 
most everything that is good and beneficial to mankind has 
been given to the world, except the benefactions of the 
Creator. 

In the gradual mental development of prehistoric man 
may be found the cause of brain cellular activity. The 
process of development must have been slow, and the cells 
created were transmitted by means of the brain organ to 
the posterity of each successive generation in the same 
manner that mental activities are inherited in this age. 
Mental force was gradually generated and developed as 
cellular activities, each successive generation inheriting brain 
organs with a greater number of undeveloped cells, ready 
to be called into activity by the mental efforts of the possess- 
ors. In this way modern humanity has inherited and grown 
into the possession of superior brain cellular activities. 
There has been no supernatural development, or influence. 
Our present intellectual vigor and enlightenment are the re- 
sult of countless ages and successive generations of gradual 
mental development. They are the creation of mental exer- 
cise and studious efforts. They have resulted from a con- 
stantly increased ability to control and make good use of 
practical thought. That method of upbuilding mankind's 
mentality will continue its work of wonders, until our 
posterity has reached the zenith of mental vigor and power. 



40 



FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



RECORD OF PREHISTORIC MAN DISCOVERIES. 



SERIES 



AUTHENTICATED 



DOUBTFUL 



EARLIEST SERIES 

(Early Pleistocene 
or perhaps later 
Pliocene) 



Eower Paleolithic 
Series. Chellean 



Middle Paleolithic 
Series. Acheulian 
to Mousterian 



Upper Paleolithic 
Series. Aurigna- 
cian 



Magdalenian 



PLACE 

Trinil 

(Java) 
Mauer 

(Germany) 



NAME 

Pitheoanthropus 

erectus* 
Homo heidel- 

bergensis* 



No authenticated skeletal 
remains 

Ea Quina (France)* 
Le Moustier (France) t 
Ea Chapelle-aux-Saintsf 
Neanderthal (Germany) 
Forbes Quarry (Gibraltar) 
Spy (Belgium) t 
Krapina (Croatia) 
Ea Naulette (Belgium) f 
Malarnaud (France) t 
St. Brelade (Jersey) t 
Ea Ferrassie (France) t 
Pech de l'Aze (France) t 
Taubach (Germany) 

Grotte des Enfants (Mentone)t 
Cavillon (Mentone)t 
Barma Grande (Mentone)t 
Cro-Magnon (Greece) t 
Paviland (England, So. Wales) t 

Combe Capelle (France) t 
Chancelade (France) t 



SKELETONS OR BONES FROM 

Piltdown* 

Galley Hill* 

Ipswich* 

Olmo* 

Castenedolo* 

Foxhall* 

Savona* 

Krapinaf (Obermaier) 
(but see the Middle 
Paleolithic Series) 

Sipka (Moravia) f 
Ochos (Moravia) t 
Moulin (Ouignon, France) 
Dartford (England)* 
Bury (England)* 



* From an alluvial deposit, 
t Cave deposit. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 41 



PROPOSITION NUMBER TWO 

THAT A CAREFUL INVESTIGATION OF THE MENTAL AND PHYS- 
ICAL DEVELOPMENT OF MAN, ITS CAUSE, INCEPTION AND 
GROWTH WILL CONVINCE INTELLIGENT PERSONS 
THAT WE ARE NOT CONTROLLED BY A SUPERNAT- 
URAL INFLUENCE, AND THAT OUR MENTAL- 
ITIES ARE PHYSICAL FUNCTIONS 

IT IS a mistake to believe that man was first endowed 
with a fully developed mentality, capable of acquiring 
information and knowledge, and of causing him to 
be an intellectual being. That could not have been possible, 
or prehistoric man would not have been practically a brute 
animal for so long a period. The development of man's 
mentality has resulted from hundreds of thousands of years 
of mental training, and had man's mentality been restricted 
to the use of the five senses, he would now be in the monkey- 
baboon stage. Man was created as a super-animal, and was 
provided with a mentality, which has been guided and con- 
trolled by a super-sense that has enabled him to grow in 
both mental and physical stature. The man of today differs 
in every possible particular from the man of prehistory, 
or the man of seven thousand years ago, who then inhabited 
Egypt and Mesopotamia, and from whom we have received 
our first historical records. That fact alone indicates that 
modern man is the upgrowth of mental development, or 
there would have been a previous record of his life history, 
dated in what is now the prehistory period. 

It is not a stretch of the imagination to fancy the mental 
condition of the Trinil-prehistoric man, which caused him 
to wander about the primeval forests with a club in hand in 
search of food ; or to follow the efforts of the Piltdown man, 
who had discovered that a bow with a flint-headed arrow 
was a better weapon than a club ; or to imagine the bettered 
condition of the Neanderthal cave man, surrounded in his 



42 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

rock den by his half human family; or to see the Cro- 
Magnon man painting pictures of animals on the walls of a 
cavern; or to witness the efforts of other prehistoric men, 
who discovered the use of bronze and iron for the manu- 
facture of weapons and utensils. Should the reader still 
be skeptical as to the growth of man in intellectual powers, 
let him examine records of the ancient Egyptians, or the 
shelves of an antiquarian shop. Modern man is the mental 
and physical upgrowth of prehistoric man. He possesses 
the same physical organs of his brutish ancestor, but he 
has become refined and educated through the long process 
of mental training, and is no longer a brutish human 
animal. 

After the real change had been effected in modern man's 
mentality, the refinements of body and physical appearance 
naturally followed. The upgrowth has been simple and 
was made effective through the physical law of inheritance. 
The process of procreation caused the parents to pass to 
their progeny the benefits, mental and physical, derived from 
their mortal existence. The results of their sins, also, were 
transmitted; but the balance, fortunately, was in favor of 
well doing; hence the constant but gradual better develop- 
ment. The great uplift was caused by the increase in the 
size and capabilities of the brain cellular organism. That 
growth caused essential changes in the nervous system and 
the varied physical functions. Each successive generation, 
as a rule, was better developed mentally and physically than 
the preceding one. In this way the upgrowth and intellectual 
attainments of modern man have been accomplished. 

Readers not familiar with the mental processes of nerve 
and brain cellular development, should inform themselves 
on that subject. It would have much to do with banishing 
from their minds the absurdity of attributing mental and 
physical activities to supernatural and other influences, such 
as the divine mind, spiritual control, and similar imagina- 
tive causes. Our mentalities prompt every thought, act and 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 43 

deed, right or wrong, and these promptings result from 
either our own mental training or the cellular activities in- 
herited from ancestors and developed by ourselves. There 
is no other mental control than the one we exert over our 
own mentalities. 

When the wonderful creation and distribution of the 
intricate mass of nerve and brain cellular matter, that con- 
stitutes and incites our mental and physical activities, are 
taken into consideration, it will be seen that it would be 
impossible for any outside influence to control or guide us 
in any manner except as hereinafter explained. 

Mental training means the development of cellular in- 
fluences to do things, right or wrong. It is the acquisition 
of an ability to perform mental and physical acts. These 
acts may be for right or wrong doing. Whatever they are, 
they constitute our mental training. Our life' history is a 
constant record of mental training to be handed down to our 
posterity, through their inherited brain and nerve cell or- 
ganism. The mental record thus transmitted will not be of 
service to posterity unless it is developed. And that develop- 
ment should be a matter of great moment to us, unless we 
desire to introduce the result of ancestral evil training into 
our mental activities, along with that which is desirable. 

In all vertebrate animals, including man, the nervous 
system, or the system that controls our physical and mental 
movements, is divided into two separate and distinct sys- 
tems, the cerebro-spinal, and the sympathetic, or the gangli- 
onic, system. The cerebro-spinal division includes the brain 
and spinal cord, and the cranial and spinal nerves. This 
system presides over such functions as sensation, motion 
and intellect, and all the nervous organs concerned in sensa- 
tion, volition and mental action. The other, or sympathetic, 
division consists of ganglia connected by nervous cords 
which extend from the cranium to the pelvis, along each 
side of the vertebral column, and from which nerves with 
large ganglionic masses proceed to the viscera and blood 



44 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

vessels in the cavities of the chest, abdomen and pelvis. 
This is designated as the system of organic life, since it 
seems to regulate, almost independently of mental activity, 
the performance of the functions of the organs of respira- 
tion, circulation and digestion. In addition to the nerve 
systems, there are nerve fibers that penetrate and ramify 
through every part of the body, controlling muscular action, 
and constituting what might be known as our sensory sys- 
tem, since it excites emotions and controls the sense of 
touch, or feeling. The entire nervous system is a part of 
our mental activities, and as such should be considered 
when contemplating the theory of mental healing. 

The organism or mental machine that actuates and keeps 
the human system alive and in working order is the men- 
tality, the brain cellular organism with its wonderful mental 
force. This mental machine has been in the process of 
development since man was created as a rudimentary crea- 
ture. It has been gradually, but constantly, improved by 
successive numberless generations, until it has become the 
controlling influence of earthly activities. And it is destined 
to be still further greatly developed. The only query now in 
the minds of readers is doubtless as to the nature of the influ- 
ence that keeps the mentality, the mental machine, in oper- 
ation. There must be a force, mental or otherwise, that 
causes man to think, and to become active, progressive and 
proficient. Let us consider for a moment the cause of the 
warble of the songbird. When the sun shines and nature 
puts on a look of gladness, the little bird will trill its song, 
and seem happy because of the inspiration. What force 
causes the bird to sing, the lion to roar, the dog to howl, or 
the man to think and talk. There must be some extraneous 
power to cause these apparent phenomena. The bird could 
not sing, or the man talk, unless inspired by some influence, 
nor could we conjecture what causes many unexplained 
occurrences, incident to what seems supernatural power. 
The answer is to be found, when we know what magic causes 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 45 

a seed to sprout, grow and blossom into a beautiful flower. 
There is only one answer, Life. 

Life is the cause of creation, the influence that preserves 
earthly activities, the inspiration of animate existence, the 
force that impels development, and the power that moves 
the wheels of universal progress. There is nothing super- 
natural in mortal affairs but life, and that mystery may 
never be revealed to us. It is a mystery that is wonderful, 
indescribable and unaccountable. The intellectual develop- 
ment and workings of our mentalities are marvelous, but 
they are no more remarkable than the growth of a tree, or 
flower, or the reproduction of all forms of animal and 
vegetable life, each unit always separate and distinct, with 
no mixing of various species or families. We can account 
for mental, physical and vegetable development, because of 
training and culture, but we cannot explain or understand 
how the various units of the two earthly kingdoms of life 
are invariably separate and distinct in their processes of 
procreation. We know that the bird sings, and the dogs 
howl or bark, and man thinks and talks, because of the 
inherited cells that cause them to do so instinctively under 
certain conditions. We also know that cultivation, culture 
and careful breeding will improve everything in nature, but 
we do not understand why each race, species, variety or 
kind of the different units of the animal and vegetable king- 
doms has its own particular markings, characteristics and 
distinctions from the other units of life. 

Life creates and causes vegetable growth, and creates 
and inspires animate existence. Also the process of pro- 
creation and development is incited and controlled by life. 
Every mental and physical movement is the result of life's 
activities, and that is why we have growth and development. 
Mental force is a form of animate life. It is not a result of 
supernatural power. Were that not so, how could the birds 
sing their various songs, or all forms of animal life give 
voice to their various calls and utterances. Our method of 



46 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

giving voice to our thoughts is no different. It all results 
from mental training, and inherited ability, when developed. 
Our thoughts come from the same source. Through a long 
process of development we have acquired mental force and 
mental control. These accomplishments result from the use 
of the six senses. The sixth, or super-sense, enables us to 
think, devise, invent, seek immortality, and develop both 
ourselves and the rest of the world. The five senses, touch, 
taste, smell, sight and hearing, control the activities of other 
vertebrate existence. These senses belong to the nervous 
system and are actuated by life. All information and knowl- 
edge acquired through the use of the senses are estab- 
lished as a mental fixture by means of cellular development 
in the brain organism, and are then made useful through the 
influence of our mental control. Life inspires our activities, 
both mental and physical, in accordance with their develop- 
ment. We may be intellectual or not, good or wicked, use- 
ful or lazy, diligent or slothful. Our worth to ourselves, 
and to the world, depends entirely on our mental training, 
and the training of our ancestors. Our brain cell organism 
is inherited, together with physical form and functions. 

The germ of life, impregnated during the process of pro- 
creation, is the unit that comprises, when developed, every 
characteristic of our life career. It contains the influence 
that will cause us to be worthy or unworthy, to be intelli- 
gent or ignorant, to be strong and brilliant or to be weak 
and helpless, to be handsome and attractive or to be ugly 
and repulsive; and for that reason we are largely creatures 
of heritage. Should we possess mental vigor and health 
we may become useful and worthy citizens through the good 
results of mental training, but much will depend on the 
characteristics embodied in the germ of life. There will be 
no spiritual or supernatural influence to guide or control 
our efforts for right or wrong doing. We shall be precisely 
what the characteristics of that germ of life indicate, 
nothing more, nothing less. We are children of nature and 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 47 

are reproduced accordingly. The tree bears its peculiar 
nut or fruit ; the dog has its spots, howl and growl ; the bird 
has its sweet, pretty song; and man has his own character- 
istics, which cannot be submerged or entirely eradicated as 
long as he is a human animal. Life has been good to man. 
Through the influence of a superior mentality, we have taken 
possession of the world, and enjoy its great abundance 
and blessings. But we are not satisfied with this happy 
earthly condition, and insist that there is a personal God, 
to guide, control and shower still greater benefactions upon 
us. We are not contented with the knowledge that we are 
our own masters, and are lords of the worldly domain. We 
want a personal God, to do our talking, control our thoughts, 
guide our conduct, heal our diseases, hear our complaints 
and prayers, show us the way to heaven, allow our friends 
and relatives to visit us in spirit form, teach us to believe 
in many kinds of religious faith, and to act as our servant 
every time we send up a hurry call. Some day, we will 
realize that there is no personal God to overlook and up- 
build our welfare. On that day, we will learn that immor- 
tality is to be achieved by our own personal endeavors, 
and that it is not the gift of a personal God. 



48 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER THREE 

THAT THE PRINCIPLES FOR MENTAL REGENERATION, ADVOCA- 
TED IN THIS SERIES OF PROPOSITIONS, MUST NECESSARILY 
CONFLICT WITH RELIGIOUS AND OTHER METHODS OF 
REFORMATION, BUT NO CRITICISM OF THESE 
METHODS IS INTENDED. ALL MEANS OF REF- 
ORMATION THAT LEAD TO RIGHT DOING 
DESERVE EARNEST AND HEART- 
FELT SUPPORT 

THE object in publishing this volume is to convince 
readers that there is an easier way to regenerate the 
mind and body, and free both our mental and physical 
activities from harmful influences, than the means employed 
by religious methods, teachings, and doctrines advocated 
for reformation. When engaged in a business under- 
taking, if we can look forward to success, we enter upon 
the work with renewed zeal and greater effort. That is 
precisely the method of mental regeneration advocated in 
this series of propositions. We are not required to beseech 
an unknown influence or power for favors that cannot be 
granted. We do not enter upon the work of reformation 
with our eyes closed, and our lips sealed from inquiry as 
to how we are to cast off our sinful burdens. We know, 
at the beginning of the campaign for mental freedom, how 
the work is to be done, and the result to be accomplished. 
There is no guess-work, no chance of defeat to be taken 
into consideration, and no doubt as to the final result, if we 
are persistent in our efforts. Mental regeneration is exclu- 
sively a one-man task. It must be accomplished by individ- 
ual endeavor. Friends may advise, encourage and offer to 
assist, but they cannot do more than encourage us. We must 
conform to natural conditions, and each of us become his 
own savior. 

The assertion that we are not in any way influenced or 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 49 

guided in mortal life by supernatural power, will not at 
first meet with favor. But the statement is true, and must 
be accepted as fact by every thoughtful, reasonable person. 
It does not follow, because we are not controlled and 
influenced by supernatural power, that there is no God, or 
Supreme Power, or Creator, or Omnipotent Influence. The 
fact that we are mortals living in one of the worlds of this 
vast, incomprehensible universe, is proof sufficient of the 
existence of an Ail-Powerful Creator. But there is no evi- 
dence, and never has been the slightest substantial proof, 
of the existence of a personal God, who looks after our 
welfare, or mankind would not have been hundreds of 
thousands of years emerging from the depths of bestialism. 
There is on record, in the different anthropological museums 
of the world, convincing evidence that prehistoric man was 
in existence during the Pliocene age, over five hundred thou- 
sand years ago. If biblical traditions could be substantiated, 
it would be rather difficult to locate the Garden of Eden 
and find physical evidence of the existence of Adam and 
Eve. But the old serpent that tempted Eve still survives the 
disasters and cataclysms of so many ages, according to 
religious information. 

Wrong doing, which comprises every form of sin and 
wickedness, as well as bad habits, or any deed or act that 
is harmful to self or to others, is not a lapse of spiritual 
guidance, or a failure to comply with a religious obligation, 
or a neglect to belong to a church. It is a mental affliction, 
a lack of brain cellular control, a mental physical weakness, 
a misdirected mental energy that may only be reformed 
by a physical process, but is not so understood. There could 
be no sin or wickedness, no good and commendable acts 
and deeds, and in fact no thoughts, acts or deeds of any 
kind, good or bad, were it not for the cellular activities of 
our mentalities. A mentality is the cellular organism of the 
brain organ. To use a scientific phrase, it is a "soft whitish 
convoluted mass occupying the cranium of a vertebrate 



50 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

animal, and constituting the center of the nervous system 
and the seat of consciousness and volition. ,, The brain or 
nerve cells of this organism are connected with nerve fibers 
that ramify through every part of the body, and control our 
mental and physical movements. The area of the cellular 
organism, that constitutes the mentality, is divided into brain 
centers, each of which has its distinct and separate functions 
in controlling our activities. There are six senses that actu- 
ate the cellular activities, when called upon to do so ; and as 
these senses energize, or furnish the mental force, to ac- 
quire information and knowledge, to prompt our physical 
movements, and to cause us to do everything within the 
ability of our activities, they may be said to be our pro- 
pelling force. The only object in referring to the cause of 
our mental and physical activities in this proposition, was 
to explain why mental regeneration is a physical, and not 
a spiritual process. 

The mental training of mankind has never been practical 
and praiseworthy, or there would not be so much belief in 
supernatural influences, games of chance, science healing, 
spiritual mediums, clairvoyants and other absolute incon- 
gruities. It will be shown conclusively in this series of prop- 
ositions, that there cannot be transmission of thought, mind 
reading, or mental communication of any kind between in- 
dividuals, except in the manner prescribed by nature. Ex- 
planations also will be made why prayers for others are 
never answered, and why our own prayers for material 
benefits are not effective. Individual prayers for right doing, 
right living and right thinking are our only means of self- 
regeneration. They upbuild desires to overcome wrong do- 
ing, and are the means of creating brain cellular develop- 
ment for that purpose. To do right means the development 
of an upright person. To live right means a life without 
harm to self or others. To think right means the exclusion 
of evil thought from the mind. To realize the blessings to 
be derived from these three conditions, the cellular control 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 51 

of a mentality that instigates wrong doing must be changed 
to a control that will inspire right doing. 

It has been proclaimed by certain church authorities that 
the reason why God does not interpose and protect man- 
kind from the dangers and perils that beset them is because 
man was created as a free moral agent, and that in all af- 
fairs of mortal life he is privileged to choose between good 
and evil, also that if man decides to accept evil he must 
suffer the consequences of his wrong doing. There are two 
reasons why that argument is absolutely indefensible. Man's 
mentality is a physical function, and its activity and mental 
scope are the result of ages and ages of training, develop- 
ment and upbuilding. It is extremely doubtful if prehistoric 
man knew right from wrong. His ability to discriminate 
between these two influences has since been developed to 
meet contingencies. An innocent child with an undeveloped 
mind does not know right from wrong, and would always 
remain ignorant of wrong doing were it possible to keep its 
mental development free from objectionable influences. The 
other reason is within the knowledge of every person. It is 
not what we want to do that controls our conduct. It is 
what our mentalities compel us to do that regulates our 
choice between good and evil. Mental development and 
mental activities prompt thoughts and deeds. Every men- 
tality trained during ordinary life is controlled by two in- 
fluences, one for right, and the other for wrong doing. 
Should the influence for right doing predominate, the exist- 
ence of its possessor will be commendable and worthy, but 
as long as there are mental activities for wrong doing the 
person will occasionally give up to their influence. 



52 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER FOUR 

THAT WE ARE DIRECT DESCENDANTS OF PREHISTORIC MAN, 
AND AS SUCH BELONG TO VERTEBRATE ANIMAL LIFE. WE 
ARE CONTROLLED BY ANIMAL FUNCTIONS, TENDENCIES 
AND PROCLIVITIES, BUT POSSESS A SUPERIOR MENTAL- 
ITY BY MEANS OF WHICH WE HAVE GRADUALLY 
UPBUILDED OURSELVES FROM A BESTIAL STATE 
TO OUR PRESENT ENLIGHTENED, 
CIVILIZED CONDITION 

THERE must have been some great uplifting influence 
to have caused mankind to be developed from a semi- 
savage being to a super-man. The uplift has been 
slow, and has extended over countless generations, but it 
has been sure, and has accomplished wonders. To compare 
our present superior condition with that of prehistoric man, 
we have only to look backward into the dark ages of the 
world for indications of prehistoric existence. Man at that 
time resembled an ape in appearance, and probably in 
methods of living. We are still handicapped with animal 
proclivities inherited from our prehistoric ancestors, and 
will never be able to entirely free ourselves from their in- 
fluences. We are animals by nature, instinct and functions, 
although we designate ourselves as human beings, or mor- 
tals endowed with a super-intellect. Our upbuilding has 
been accomplished by mental development, caused by a 
super-sense that has provided the energy for that develop- 
ment. That super, or sixth sense, controls the activities of 
the five senses, but it in no way conflicts with their func- 
tions. The super-sense may be strengthened and made more 
active by prayer, and the rise of man from a bestial state 
may be attributed to the growth in strength and power of 
this sense, probably through the use of prayerful supplica- 
tions. As super-beings we could not exist were all animal 
propensities abandoned. We must take food, preserve our 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 53 

procreative abilities, retain and keep in order all digestive 
and other functional organs, and in fact, remain as we 
were created. That ought to be evidence that we are ani- 
mals. Some of us are a little better than others, when it 
comes to a question of comparing habits, methods of living, 
development of mentalities and moral attributes. 

We could not be saints and live in this world. To reach 
that state of perfection we would be compelled to find an- 
other abiding place. The best we could do in this life would 
be to curb our passions, put a bridle on our lustful desires, 
stop giving in to bad habits, be loyal and true to our families 
and friends, take better care of our health, drop all manias 
for amassing wealth and gaining power, cease trying to do 
the other fellow, and cultivate an aspiration for right doing. 

The trouble with many of us, when starting on a campaign 
of self-betterment, is that we want to get ready for immor- 
tality in a minute. We forget that the place so much sought 
in another life is not for people with flesh and blood, and ani- 
mal desires and passions. Then, when finding that the old 
proclivities continue their grip, we lose heart and give up the 
fight to subdue them. Occasionally we go to a religious 
revival and are told that heaven is in sight, and all we have 
to do to make the ascension is to go forward, kneel in 
prayer, sign a pledge in acceptance of the christian faith, 
and begin stepping in the old straight and narrow path to 
salvation. Again the old animal tendencies begin their activ- 
ities, and the straight and narrow path seems long and 
crooked. 

Man will remain a man, as long as he is clothed in mortal 
habiliments. All of the churchmen this side of eternal 
bliss may say differently, but that will not alter the fact. 
Man is necessarily controlled by animal proclivities that can- 
not be removed by baptism, holy water, vows, pledges, or 
other means of religious conversion. The only thing 
to be done with man, to make him worthy of salvation, is to 
put a curb on his propensities, cause him to overcome bad 



54 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

habits, and let him act and live like a man. To accomplish 
that task will require time, patience, application and mental 
effort. It will prove to be a man's job, but is worth the 
undertaking. A man shorn of bad habits, harmful indul- 
gences, mental weakness, gross desires and acts of indis- 
cretion, would indeed be a man. 

There are people who think that giving up bad habits 
means the sacrifice of many enjoyments. That is wrong. 
The use of any detriment to health should not be an enjoy- 
ment. Twenty years of indulgence in the best years of one's 
life are not worth the suffering and misery due to poor 
health, during the remainder of an earthly existence. The 
worst feature of a life of excesses and indulgences is the 
harm done to progeny. Who among us is desirous of being 
responsible for the birth of weak or crippled children? 
What greater transgression could there be than that of 
placing the curse of mental or physical weakness on our own 
sons or daughters ? This is the worst, the most culpable of 
sins. The saddest feature of the whole question of moral 
regeneration is that but few of us feel that we are in danger. 
Only the broken-down human wrecks of a dissolute life 
will admit that harmful excesses and indulgences are very 
expensive luxuries. They not only cost the best days of an 
earthly existence, but also in nine times out of ten the profli- 
gate dies a pauper. 

People who feel the necessity of trying to evade the con- 
sequences of wrong doing may do so without publicity or 
self-abasement. The method is simple and effective. It is 
the same as the one which has upbuilded mankind. It will 
require considerable mental endeavor to render it effective, 
but that may be done without loss of time from business, 
social, or home duties. No one need be taken into the con- 
fidence of the person attempting to cast off the shackles of 
slavery, brought on by bad habits and other indulgences, or 
even by criminal or sinful tendencies. The process may be 
kept secret. In fact, it will prove more successful when not 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 55 

made known to others. Secrecy aids the regeneration. It 
enables the person to secure control of his mentality, and 
to overcome the desire for wrong doing. 

Let us analyze the process of regenerating a mentality. 
There are two elements of control in every sane mentality, 
one for right and the other for wrong doing. When the 
control is for right doing, the person will do right. When 
the control is for wrong doing, there will be the necessity 
of a change. A mentality consists of myriads of brain and 
nerve cells located in the brain organ. These cells are 
actuated by mental effort, and are the result of mental 
training. This training develops cells in accordance with 
the nature of the training. Sinful or objectionable thoughts, 
acts and deeds develop cells that influence a control for 
wrong doing. That control must be subjugated and over- 
come to eradicate the desire and power of wrong doing. To 
overcome that objectionable influence, a stronger and more 
potent desire for right doing must be created. The only 
successful way to upbuild that desire, and cause it to sub- 
due the influence for wrong doing, is to strengthen it by 
fervent, earnest, honest prayer, in secret. 

Prayer to Life frequently implored will always prove 
efficacious and beneficial. It is the only sure means for 
regenerating a mental control. The change will not be made 
momentarily, or in a short time. It is a question of mental 
training. The training that resulted in the development of 
a mentality that caused wrong doing was probably the work 
of years. It may require the same length of time to over- 
come the effects of the misfortune. But it can be done. 
The prayer method will prove the benefactor that will over- 
throw the control of wrong doing, provided the devotee 
does not get discouraged and give up the fight. 



56 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER FIVE 

THAT EACH UNIT OR LIVING THING IN EARTHLY CREATION 
IS ENDOWED WITH ABILITY TO PROCREATE ITS OWN KIND, 
AND TO MAINTAIN ITS OWN EXISTENCE, WHEN CON- 
DITIONS ARE FAVORABLE. EACH OF THESE UNITS 
OR LIVING THINGS IS ENTIRELY INDEPEND- 
ENT OF OTHER FORMS OF EARTHLY 
LIFE, AND IS IN NO WAY RE- 
LATED TO NOR HAS AN AF- 
FINITY FOR THEM 

THAT man is one of the units or living things of earthly 
creation is beyond doubt. He stands at the head of 
the animal kingdom, and in that capacity dominates 
other forms of created existence, and will maintain that 
supremacy for all time. It has been one of the wise provis- 
ions of the Creator, to so bestow His benefactions that 
each separate and independent unit, form, or family of His 
creations may always remain the same, no matter what other 
changes may take place in worldly affairs. The procreative 
functions of one particular form of existence will not 
supply the procreative demand of another form, either in 
the animal or vegetable kingdom. That provision places 
the different forms and varieties of created existence in 
classes independent of each other, and continues indefinitely 
the peculiar characteristics that distinguish them from 
each other. 

Life is the cause of the existence of all things created. 
It animates animal and vegetable creations, and the earth 
furnishes them with subsistence. Therefore, Life, the Crea- 
tor, must have first created the earth before the animal and 
vegetable kingdoms could have existed. They followed as 
a natural consequence. It would be tiresome to readers to 
describe the changes that must have taken place before 
man and other creations reached their present state of devel- 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 57 

opment. That information is not essential. The object in 
leading up to that subject, by referring to the creation, is to 
show the importance of life as a mental agent. 

Life creates mental force, mental effort. Life not only 
animates our physical functions, but it also actuates the 
brain cellular activities by means of the six senses and 
creates thought and prompts acts and deeds. We speak of 
mental effort. There could be no such effort without life. 
Life, through the senses, constitutes mental effort, mental 
energy, mental vigor and everything else that affords mental 
strength. We acquire physical strength by exercising and 
developing our muscles. But there would be no strength, 
unless life was the invigorating agent. We acquire mental 
and intellectual strength by a process of training to develop 
the brain and nerve cells in the brain organism. There could 
be no development without life. The cells could not be 
actuated or enlivened. Life provides both vigor and activ- 
ity, if the brain organ is in a healthy, receptive condition. 

When we walk, wink an eye, breathe, talk, make use of 
the six senses, or perform any function of ordinary exist- 
ence, there may not seem to be a prompting of the mentality. 
But there is. There could be no thought, act, or deed, even 
very insignificant, without mental activity. The moment 
mental activity ceases, that moment life takes its departure 
from our mortal bodies. Life is the cause of our existence. 
It maintains our mental and physical activities, through the 
medium of the mentality. If the mentality is not properly 
developed, if only the brain cell centers, that control our 
physical functions, are developed, we will then be useless 
walking idiots. Our worth to ourselves as individuals, and 
to the world as capable men and women, depends entirely on 
the nature and extent of our brain cellular development. 
If that is rational, intellectual, vigorous and active we shall 
be worthy and reputable citizens. 

Our mental and physical worth results from our own 
efforts. There could be no other solution of the problem 



58 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

of mortal existence. We were created on the same plan that 
governs other worldly creations. All created existence pro- 
creates and subsists on earthly products. It is subject to 
progress or decadence, to dissolution and change to a re- 
creating agent. Man is no exception to this law of nature. 
The only argument in man's favor is that he, as an animal, 
has been endowed with a superior mentality that enables 
him to dominate all other earthly things, and derive great 
benefit from that domination. There is hope that through 
the medium of that stronger and more potent mentality, 
man may render himself worthy of immortality. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 59 



PROPOSITION NUMBER SIX 

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ONE PERSON TO RECEIVE INFORMATION 
AND KNOWLEDGE OR TO COMMUNICATE WITH ANOTHER 
PERSON UNLESS BY MEANS OF THE FIVE SENSES, TOUCH, 
TASTE, SIGHT, SMELL AND HEARING. THAT IS AN IN- 
EXORABLE LAW OF NATURE. AND WHEN MECHANI- 
CAL PROCESSES ARE EMPLOYED FOR AN EXCHANGE 
OF COMMUNICATIONS THE FIVE SENSES MUST 
BE USED TO RENDER THEM INTELLIGIBLE 

A CAREFUL study of the processes and activities of 
the mind will convince the student that it is impossi- 
ble for one person to communicate with another per- 
son, unless the five senses are employed. The mentality or 
mind is composed of cellular matter that is connected with 
every part of the body by means of sensory nerves and nerve 
fibers. This intricate nerve system is controlled by the senses 
and it cannot be actuated in any other way than through the 
use of the senses. The five senses, touch, taste, sight, smell 
and hearing, control every avenue of our nervous system 
which has communication with the outside world. The sixth 
or innate sense provides mental energy and actuates the men- 
tality whenever thought and intellectuality are concerned. 
The five senses are the outpost sentries through which in- 
formation and knowledge are received and imparted. The 
sixth or innate sense stores away information and knowl- 
edge in the memory cells and gives us the ability to devise 
and invent, to think out problems, to upbuild the mind, to 
prepare ourselves for immortality and to do everything we 
do except to touch, taste, see, smell and hear. These last 
senses belong to our physical nature. The sixth or innate 
sense controls our mental energy and provides an ability to 
develop and upbuild the intellect. 

The white and grey cellular matter located in the cranium 
and known as the mentality cannot be actuated from an- 



60 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

outside source. The individual effort of the person possess- 
ing the mentality is the only way to set its activities in 
motion. It would be as easy to think a brick wall into a 
tremble as it would be for one person to actuate the men- 
tality of another person by the use of either his own or 
the divine mind, or by telepathy or any other mental pro- 
cess. Unless the cellular functions of a mentality are actu- 
ated there can be no thought, act or deed. Mental activity 
creates thought and prompts deeds, and there can be no 
mental activity except through personal, individual en- 
deavor. But there could be thought suggestion where the 
mind of the subject to be influenced is dominated and put 
to sleep, so to speak, by the presence and awesome stare of 
another person with a stronger mentality. In such instances 
the person hypnotizes himself. The man with the strong 
stare and awesome presence subjugates the mental activities 
of the hypnotized person in the same manner a coward is 
impelled to cringe before the compelling influence of his 
conqueror. 

When considering the important question of supernatural 
or divine guidance, mind reading, christian science, tele- 
pathy, spiritualism and other mental mistakes, do not for- 
get that we are animals composed of flesh, blood, bone, 
sinew and cellular tissue, and that every bit of information 
and knowledge that we acquire is the result of mental train- 
ing. Not a word or letter of the alphabet is thrust into 
our minds unsought. Shut yourself up in a dark room 
where there is no noise or odor, and where you will not be 
disturbed for several hours. There will then be a distracting 
silence if you expect extraneous mental treatment, or the 
visitation of spirit friends. There is nothing about the men- 
tal or physical construction of our bodies that would in- 
dicate a spiritual presence. It would be as possible to talk 
to a friend in a foreign country without the use of mechani- 
cal assistance as it would be to communicate with him by 
the thought transmission process. Thought is not a mental 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 61 

sign board and cannot be read in the mind. The mentality 
or mind is a physical function incapable of being actuated 
from outside sources, and impossible of being reached and 
made the instrument of healing either by the divine mind 
or by any other extraneous influence. 

It seems strange to a thinking person that people sup- 
posed to be endowed with common sense will patronize 
fakirs who hang out signs advertising their ability to heal 
disease by mental science, tell fortunes, read minds, prac- 
tice astrology and do other things that deal with the super- 
natural. But that method of deception is not much more 
reprehensible than it is to be told that a personal God pro- 
tects and guides us when epidemics, plagues, war and num- 
berless other troubles are constantly afflicting us. The old 
truism that "truth is stranger than fiction" is continually 
attracting attention. There is about as much of the super- 
natural in our natures as will be found in a pail of water. 
The only difference between a human animal and one that 
roams the forest or pulls a cart is a super-mentality created 
by the endowment of a sixth, or innate sense. In other 
particulars we belong to nature and are subject to tne inci- 
dents and vicissitudes that beset creative existence. 



62 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER SEVEN 

THAT LIFE ANIMATES ALL EXISTENCE AND CAUSES IT TO 
THRIVE AND PROCREATE IN ACCORDANCE WITH NATURAL 
LAWS. THAT MANKIND IS SUBJECT TO THESE LAWS, AND 
TO VARIOUS CHANGES THAT TAKE PLACE. THAT WHILE 
LIFE PROVIDES THE ANIMATION THAT SUSTAINS 
MANKIND, THE SIX SENSES CREATE AND CONTROL 
THE MENTAL FORCES THAT CALL INTO USE THE 
BRAIN CELLULAR ACTIVITIES, AND THAT 
THESE CELLULAR ACTIVITIES SUPPLY MEN- 
TAL ABILITY, AND CAUSE OUR PHYSICAL 
ORGANS TO FUNCTION 

IT MUST be well understood that the five senses control 
the only means we have of acquiring information and 
knowledge from extraneous sources. These senses are 
the mental forces that actuate the nerve cells of the brain 
centers, controlled by them. For instance, when walking they 
control our footsteps, and sight guards against a misstep, 
or a stumble. Hearing and sight are the senses most com- 
monly employed, but each sense has its particular duties 
which are faithfully performed, when kept keen and active. 
All vertebrate animals, except man, exist through the use 
of the five senses. They do not possess the sixth or super- 
sense, which enables us to combine the use of the animal 
and the super-sense, and by mental training accomplish 
wonderful mental and physical progress. There is reason 
for regret that the combined use of the five senses, and 
the sixth, or super-sense, is the direct cause of human dis- 
tress, as well as of our right doing. Wickedness results 
from the development of animal proclivities, and when the 
activities of these proclivities are incited and controlled by 
the mental force of the sixth, and stronger sense, the 
wickedness and distress must necessarily be more violent 
and destructive. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 63 

We often wonder why vertebrate animal life never be- 
comes extravagant in its needs and uses of nature's 
products. All that an animal requires, to be contented, is 
shelter and sufficient food to maintain existence. Without 
the super-sense man would be contented with animal life. 
It is the influence of the sixth, or super-sense, that causes 
man to become either a fiend, or a true human being. If 
we drink and cannot control our desire for alcoholic stimu- 
lant, we become drunkards. When we steal and there is no 
fear of punishment, we want the earth. When at the head 
of government, and there is no effective opposition, we 
become autocrats and usurpers. If we are socially inclined 
and have plenty of money, it will be freely invested to 
acquire social distinction. We could not do these and other 
things without possessing the sixth or super-sense. 

There should be no discussion over the existence and 
control of the sixth, or super-sense. We are living evidences 
of that fact. Nothing but a super-sense could have given 
us control of earthly creations. We came into the world 
as vertebrate animals, only a grade above the anthropoid 
ape. We have developed from that pre-man existence 
into human beings. If the five senses provided mental 
force to maintain the existence of animal life during all 
the hundreds of thousands of years without causing greater 
development, what has been the uplifting force that has 
elevated mankind to the world supremacy? "God," some 
readers will answer. Then why did not God create man 
fully developed at the beginning? "He did," the biblical 
student will reply. "But Eve was tempted and God turned 
Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden." If that be 
true, as a punishment God dropped both of them into the 
abyss of bestialism over five hundred thousand years ago. 
Evidences of the existence of prehistoric man in the Plio- 
cene age have been discovered and are on record. Man- 
kind could not have had much of God's help since that time, 
for it has required countless generations to overcome God's 



64 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

alleged displeasure, and put us on our feet in this day and 
age, if we are to believe the Adam and Eve story. 

There surely is no dispute over the existence of the 
five senses, touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing, or that 
they are mental forces that actuate cellular activities, 
whenever they are called into use. That is proof that the 
senses are a mental force, and that there must be a sixth 
sense, to actuate brain cellular activities not possessed by 
other vertebrate animals. We know that the sixth sense 
is located in the mentality, and is its governing mental 
influence, because it has nothing to do with the five senses 
that incite ability to secure information and knowledge 
from outside sources. Also, we are convinced that the 
sixth sense does not enliven or increase the acuteness of 
the five senses, for animals that depend upon the use of 
these senses for existence have sharper vision and more 
acute hearing. The apparent duties of the sixth sense are 
to store away in the memory cells the information and 
knowledge communicated by the five senses, and to provide 
mental force for calling into activity brain centers as here- 
tofore explained. 

Life, earthly activity, animates and controls the existence 
of every known living thing in creation. The secret of life 
is hidden from us. We exist by means of that secret, but 
have no knowledge of the cause of its activities. We see 
life, death, procreation and growth of new life in all the 
kingdoms of creation. Nature seems to be based on a 
fundamental law of upgrowth and destruction, one succeed- 
ing the other as years, centuries and ages elapse. Midst 
all this process of life and death, we are not permitted to 
delve into the mysteries or causes of animal or vegetable 
existence. We do know that life is kind to us when we 
treat it as a benefactor. We also are aware that when we 
abuse the life that sustains and animates us, we are com- 
pelled to pay the penalty of that self -abuse. That penalty 
is pain, disease, suffering and death. Our own consciences, 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 65 

thoughts, experiences and observations have warned us 
of the dangers of wrong doing. Oftentimes these warnings 
pass unheeded. The exhilaration of health, the gratification 
of excesses, indulgences, and other causes stifle the voice 
of conscience, and it is only when stricken by the hand of 
adversity that we feel the need of assistance. Then we 
usually look for supernatural aid. There is our mistake. 
Life has been our benefactor. Life also may be made our 
savior. 



66 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER EIGHT 

THAT AS CHILDREN OF NATURE, INSPIRED AND ANIMATED BY 
LIFE, WE SHOULD NOT ABUSE THE GIFTS OF OUR BENEFAC- 
TOR BY DELIBERATELY ASSISTING IN THEIR DESTRUCTION, 
THROUGH ACTS OF WRONG DOING. GOOD HEALTH, REA- 
SONABLE ENJOYMENT, PROSPERITY IN WORLDLY 
AFFAIRS, INTELLECTUAL SUCCESS, AND A LONG 
EARTHLY EXISTENCE, FOLLOWED BY IMMORTAL- 
ITY, WILL BE OUR REWARD FOR RIGHT LIVING 
AND RIGHT DOING 

THE sixth, or super-sense, is our means of earthly and 
eternal salvation, if its strength and ability to aid us 
are properly employed. The sixth sense is not a mental 
function, or a brain cellular center that controls certain activ- 
ities. It is a mental energy, a mental force that incites the 
mental and physical activities of the brain cellular organism. 
It is a controlling force that will either overcome tendencies 
for wrong doing, or give them strength to ruin our mental 
and physical health and vigor. There is good reason for the 
belief that we are possessed with the spirit of a guardian 
angel to watch over our welfare, also with an agent or 
demon whose duty it is to drive us to desperation and de- 
spair when the influence of the sixth sense is considered. 
The sixth, or super-sense, is the vital energy that inspires 
right doing, which means good thoughts and deeds, when 
our mentality is under proper cellular control. But if our 
brain cellular control was created by thoughts and acts of 
wrong doing, this same vital energy, the sixth or super- 
sense, will incite and speed up our desires for wrong doing. 
The sixth, or super-sense, is simply the force or energy that 
enlivens and creates activities. It incites and controls our 
mental training either for good or evil purposes. It is the 
impulse that develops brain and nerve cells and causes 
their activities. It excites our thoughts, desires, passions, 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 67 

acts and deeds. It is the force, energy and impulse that 
enables us to do things through the medium of the mentality. 
The sixth, or super-sense, is to human the mind what steam 
is to the steam engine. It is its propelling power. 

When the mentality is not under the control of good in- 
fluences, and is strongly developed, the sixth, or super- 
sense, will be the agent of great wrong doing. It will incite 
the mentality to prompt thoughts and deeds of a cruel, 
heartless nature that will cause great public and personal 
distress. A salutary contrary result will ensue when the 
sixth, or super-sense, inspires a mentality that is dominated 
by influences for right doing. We do right or wrong in 
accordance with the controlling influence of our mental- 
ities. But that control may be changed by the use of the 
sixth, or super-sense, which calls up our mental activities. 
That principle is employed in every field of our mental 
training. We learn a foreign language by careful study 
and practice. We become proficient in penmanship, or any 
mechanical art, in the same manner. We learn to box, 
swim, or any other exercise, by physical and mental effort, 
and our lives are a continuous history of mental and physi- 
cal training under the influence of our mentalities, energized 
by the sixth, or super-sense. The regeneration of the men- 
tality may be accomplished in the same manner that mental 
training is derived. 

Suppose a mentality is influenced by desires for drink, 
evil associates, use of tobacco, profanity, or other acts of 
wrong doing, and its possessor wants to redeem himself 
from their harmful influences. What should he do? First, 
remember that these habits are the result of mental train- 
ing, of which there must have been a beginning, followed 
by moderate use until the habit was acquired. The thing 
to be done is to begin a mental training that will counteract 
and finally overcome the evil influences that caused the 
wrong doing. The regeneration is entirely a mental propo- 
sition. The use of drugs, as antidotes, could not effect the 



68 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

reform. A mental effort must be made to induce the sixth, 
or super-sense, to co-operate in the work of regeneration. 
That result must be obtained by prayer. The sixth sense, 
that incites mental activities for wrong doing, must be con- 
verted, and caused to inspire activities for right doing, not 
only for the renunciation and overcoming of bad habits, 
but for right doing in all methods of life. 

Prayer is the key to open the way to salvation. It will 
influence and upbuild a desire for mental regeneration; 
and that means, in time, a control of the mentality for 
right doing through the inspiration of the sixth, or super- 
sense. The beginning of the mental training, to accomplish 
this happy result, will be when we go down on our knees, 
in seclusion and alone, and pray for strength to do right, to 
see the right and to live right. There should be no prayers 
for strength to stop the use of tobacco, drink or any bad 
habit. Usually such prayers incite greater desire for these 
deleterients. Prayers for a control of the mentality for 
right doing are needed to reform our mentalities. Picking 
specks out of a sea of sin will not cause mental redemption. 
Wrong doing of all kinds falls before prayer, when it is 
heartfelt, sincere, earnest and honest. Prayers should be a 
means of upbuilding mental control for right doing, and 
hypocritical, meaningless, dishonest prayers will fail to 
accomplish that purpose. We must pray for strength to do 
right, because right doing will overthrow the influence of 
wrong doing. We must pray to live right, for when living 
right there will be no bad habits to impair health, and injure 
the mentality. We must pray to see the right, that we may 
be guided in all of our efforts through life. We may pray 
to God, the Father, or to Life. The prayers, if sincere 
and fervent, will be answered through a regenerated men- 
tality, and the sixth, or super-sense, will supply us with in- 
vigorated energy to acquire greater intellectual ability, and 
better health, physical strength and vigor. Prayers for this 
earthly regeneration also will point the way to immortality. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 69 



PROPOSITION NUMBER NINE 

THAT UNLESS WE PROTECT OUR MENTALITIES FROM THE 

RAVAGES OF WRONG DOING, WE CANNOT EXPECT TO 

BE HAPPY AND CONTENTED 

THE possession of a disordered mentality is the worst 
possible affliction. There can be no peace of mind with- 
out good mental control. Happiness never comes to 
the person who lives a life of wrong doing. There will al- 
ways be discomfort, discontent, regrets and remorse to dis- 
turb the peace of mind. Occasional rays of mental sunshine 
may afford periods of gladness and relief, but they soon 
will be clouded by the gloom of sad, regretful thoughts, and 
life will become more and more miserable. The way to 
protect the mentality from the results of wrong doing is to 
strengthen a desire to do right, and to overcome the con- 
trol that caused the unhappiness. 

There are so many forms of wrong doing that it would 
be impossible to list them intelligently. But they may be 
classed as follows : Any act that injures self, either in 
health or mental comfort, or any act that causes unhappi- 
ness to others or interferes with their material prosperity, 
or any act that destroys public welfare or hinders public 
progress, constitutes an act of wrong doing. Any act that 
causes the downfall of well doing, and brings about mis- 
fortune and misery, may be designated as the sum and 
substance of wrong doing. The question naturally comes 
up, how could such acts indicate a disordered mind? 

No person with good mental control would cause injury 
to himself, to others, or to public welfare. What good 
could be derived from such conduct ? It is people controlled 
by gross passions, inordinate appetites and desires, inex- 
cusable ambitions for wealth or power, uncontrollable 
criminal, bestial tendencies, who possess disordered minds, 
mentalities not under good control. They are the people 



70 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

whose habits, desires, ambitions, inclinations and tendencies 
cause the misery and suffering that afflict humanity and 
hinder the world's progress. They are the people who, 
also, create the need for courts of justice, and bring on 
discontent, public uprisings, wars and other horrors. 

There is only one means of protecting the public from 
the ravages of disordered mentalities, and that is mental 
regeneration, an individual reformation by individual effort. 
It is impossible to call huge meetings of people to consider 
reformation by religious methods, and expect great good 
to come from them. The desire to abandon wrong doing 
and take up right doing does not become firmly seated in 
the mind at such meetings. Discussion and argument will 
seldom cause a person to give up a bad habit, or abandon 
undesirable traits of character. The only way to reach 
a man's reasoning faculties, and convince him that wrong 
doing is not profitable, or desirable, is to show him that his 
disordered mind will eventually prove to be his downfall. 

In olden times, people with disordered mentalities were 
beaten and scourged to drive out the devil that beset them. 
They were supposed to be possessed with demons. In mod- 
ern days, many persons believe that disordered minds result 
from lack of spiritual uplift, and that sin and desire for 
wrong doing may be banished by confessions of faith, and 
by confirmation according to church creeds and regulations. 
Others think that there are good and evil spirits, who con- 
trol our destinies, and that we are fated from the beginning 
to be good, or bad. But few persons are willing to admit 
that there might be such a thing as mental self-control 
that is independent of outside influences. As a matter of 
fact, that conclusion is indisputable from a common-sense 
standpoint. Our mentalities are physical functions not asso- 
ciated in any way with supernatural or extraneous influ- 
ences. Every mortal stands alone, so far as the control of 
his mentality is concerned. He is its king and master, its 
lord and possible reformer. The only things from outside 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 71 

sources that man has to contend with in developing and 
controlling his mentality, are objectionable traits of charac- 
ter handed down to him by a long line of ancestors. 

If man by wrong mental training, or the inheritance 
of objectionable traits, has created a disordered mentality, 
what is to prevent his reforming that mentality by a system 
of mental training for right doing? Not a thing in the 
world. Man is in absolute control of his own reformation. 
He may change the mentality, or allow it to complete his 
downfall. It is a matter of his own discretion. Should the 
brain cells that constitute the mentality be intact, and not 
injured by excesses, in such a manner as to impair their 
vigor, there is no reason why the control cannot be changed, 
and the mentality freed from its objectionable influences. 
The way to mental freedom- is so simple, so easy, that it 
does not seem reasonable. The old control for wrong doing 
must be supplanted by a strong desire for right doing. 
That desire is created and strengthened by the development 
of brain cells that prompt better thoughts, and better deeds. 
Prayer, sincere, devout prayer for strength to do right, if 
persisted in for a sufficient length of time, will bring about 
the change. The prayer should be offered in secret and 
alone. It should be the result of mental effort when the 
mind is under perfect control. There also should always 
be a desire in the mind for strength to do right. It is a 
question of training the mentality for right doing, and of 
overcoming the tendency for wrong doing. If a mentality 
is controlled by a desire for wrong doing, the person will 
do wrong. That desire must be supplanted by a desire to do 
right. Wrong doing is prompted by a disordered mentality. 
The ability to do right emanates from a sane mentality. 



72 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER TEN 

THAT MAN IS HIS OWN LORD AND MASTER, AND THAT HIS 

RIGHT OR WRONG DOING RESULTS FROM EITHER GOOD 

OR HARMFUL MENTAL TRAINING 

IT IS next to impossible to convince people that they 
are not controlled by supernatural power. Every re- 
ligious belief and theory ever promulgated, except 
Buddhism, advocates and urges that we rely on God for our 
protection and salvation. No sane person could deny the 
existence of a Supreme Being, an All-Powerful Influence, 
a God, a Creator. But as for God's controlling the affairs 
of man, that is another proposition. God, the dispenser of 
justice and mercy, would not make such a bad mess of 
human affairs, as is plainly apparent, were He in charge of 
them. Again, look at the various colors and types of the 
human race, degrees of intelligence, methods of living, and 
other divergences from the bible man, and then wonder why 
God created them so differently. These same differences, 
and varieties in types and species, may be found in every 
group or family in each of the three kingdoms, the animal, 
vegetable and mineral. Man belongs to the animal king- 
dom. If man is the only type of creation directly under 
God's influence and guidance, why is there so much diver- 
sity and difference in his appearance, color, intelligence and 
conditions? We are told that man was created after the 
image of God. That must be a mistake. 

But the most convincing evidence that God does not 
directly control the affairs of man is the existence of so 
many horrors, so much misery and suffering, bloodshed and 
strife, crime and sinfulness, such a wide difference between 
prosperous and impoverished conditions, so few rich and so 
many poor people, such a lack of practical learning, and 
such a mass of ignorance, such a greed for rapine and 
plunder, and so many who are defenseless. This remark- 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 73 

able and regretable state of affairs could not exist under 
God's guidance. As proof of that assertion, witness the 
control and governing influence of the universe. Nothing 
is left to chance. All of the countless worlds of this vast, 
measureless expanse move with majesty, certainty and 
regularity in the various orbits to which they have been as- 
signed. There is no confusion, mishap, or misfortune in 
this world-moving universe to which this earth and its 
creations belong. 

Man is one of God's creations, one of the multitudes 
of creatures to be found on earth. He is an animal with a 
superior mentality, a plain, simple vertebrate animal, hardly 
well enough equipped mentally to keep himself out of 
trouble. Man assumes that he is God's chosen creation, and 
that God nearly two thousand years ago sent his Son, 
conceived by an angel, to prepare mankind for future 
salvation. If God could send an angel to impregnate a 
woman, He could as well have changed the mentalities of 
humanity, and afforded all an equal chance in the world. 
He could have made all mankind the same color, and in this 
way have given impetus to the spirit of brotherly love. Or 
God could have put mankind in affluent circumstances, and 
enabled each person to do nothing but drink sunshine and 
sing hymns of praise. That is what angels are supposed 
to do. 

How much better it is to worship God as the Supreme 
Creator, than to regard Him as an arbiter and an incapable 
controller of man's destiny. We implore God to forgive 
sins, for which our mentalities are responsible. We be- 
seech Him to extend mercy, when we are coming red- 
handed from the scene of our wrong doing. We implore 
God to give us strength to successfully manage business 
enterprises which we know were established for the pur- 
pose of fleecing fellow beings. We are constantly pleading 
with God for substantial favors, and are always forgetting 
that accumulating wealth, or seeking social, political, or 



74 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

other preferments, or doing other acts, are man's, not God's, 
affairs. God does not, and never has, controlled or in- 
fluenced man in any of his undertakings. That is as sure 
as man exists. Were this not true, man would have been 
a different being. There would have been no squalor or 
poverty, no great misfortunes, no grave dangers, afflictions, 
wars or other forms of distress. God would have made 
a real man out of the same animal now designated as man. 
And it would have been done without resorting to immacu- 
late conception. 

Mental training for right doing must, and will, prove to 
be man's salvation. Wrong doing destroys mental and 
physical welfare. Right doing upbuilds everything with 
which it comes in contact. If a mistake is made, we do 
wrong, and the wrong doing is caused by mental activity. 
When a mistake is rectified, it is done by mental activity 
for right doing. Every right and every wrong in human 
affairs results from mental activity. A mentality trained to 
do right will lead its possessor over the road to good health, 
contentment, happiness and prosperity. A mentality con- 
trolled by a cellular activity for wrong doing will cause its 
possessor to gradually descend into the depths of bestialism, 
and finally into oblivion. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 75 



PROPOSITION NUMBER ELEVEN 

THAT THE INFLUENCE KNOWN AS LIFE MUST BE THE 

CREATOR AND CONTROLLER OF THE UNIVERSE. ALSO THE 

GOD, THE FATHER, THE OMNIPOTENT POWER WE 

WORSHIP AS OUR LORD AND MASTER. WE KNOW 

OF NO OTHER SUPERNATURAL INFLUENCE 

HUMANITY has been groping in the dark for the exist- 
ence of a God with supernatural power to control 
mundane affairs and answer to the beck and call of 
mankind, as individuals, since the beginning of history. 
No such supernatural influence, or God, of whom man is the 
image, has ever been found or heard from. It is true that 
Moses, and others of the bible patriarchs, were supposed to 
have seen and received messages from God. In modern 
times, Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, founders of the 
Mormon faith, were said to have received revelations from 
God, or His angels. There are others who have alleged that 
they were commanded by God to perform certain acts, 
but as a matter of public welfare most of these self-styled 
instruments of God have been confined in asylums. Seeing 
God is very much like seeing spirits of the departed. Sane, 
self-controlled minds do not see them. 

Seeing and communicating with life is entirely a differ- 
ent proposition. We see life, feel it and realize its presence 
in our every wakeful moment. We know that life is our 
creator and supporter, but we do not understand how and 
why it animates us and everything else in existence. We 
see a beautiful landscape, with the green foliage of its 
tall, spreading trees, its pretty swards of grass, its glades, 
hills, and gurgling brook, its birds, butterflies, and other 
animated life, all made more attractive by the glittering, 
glimmering sunshine. We then wonder how life could 
create such a charming bit of nature. We witness throngs 
of busy, restless people, knowing that there are also bil- 



76 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

lions of other human beings engrossed in the world's activ- 
ities, and feel that through them life is well represented. 
We examine intricate and marvelous pieces of machinery 
and other mechanical creations, resulting from the efforts 
of man's mentality, and wonder how these marvels could 
have been devised. We look upon remarkable examples of 
art, and hear what genius can do in musical composition, 
eloquence and other developments of intellectual attainment, 
and then ask ourselves if God is responsible for all of these 
things. The popular reply would be, yes. But who is God, 
and where is he located? God is our Creator and He is 
everywhere, we are told. 

So is life everywhere. Life inspires beauty in the flower, 
and creates the charming landscape. Life causes the birds 
to warble and trill their songs, and it grows the forests, 
and covers the trees with foliage. Life creates and supports 
the busy throngs of people that populate the world, and calls 
forth the genius of the men who invent wonderful ma- 
chinery, and who create beautiful examples of art. Life 
inspires the efforts of orators, musicians, authors and other 
people, whose intellectual attainments arouse public admir- 
ation. Life does everything that causes existence to be 
beautiful, charming and interesting. Life, also, is respon- 
sible for all disasters, aside from those caused by the ele- 
ments, all misery and suffering, all wars and contention, and 
everything else in the animal and vegetable kingdoms. Life 
is both a creative and a destructive agent. 

Mention has been made that through a wise provision 
of the Creator each separate and distinct unit, form, species 
and variety of animal and vegetable life has been endowed 
with procreative ability, that enables it to remain independ- 
ent of other forms or units of creative existence. One unit, 
form, species or family cannot procreate with another unit, 
form or family. That is not all of the accuracy and reli- 
ability pertaining to the creation of the animal and vege- 
table kingdoms. The germ of life contained in every seed, 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 77 

in every bit of pollen, every nut, and every other manner 
of propagating life, remains a secret. Man, in all of his 
investigations and efforts to reproduce life, has been unable 
to ascertain the cause of its existence. Life has not re- 
vealed this secret. In all probability, life will never do so. 
Man would then know how the universe came into exis- 
tence, and the origin of creation. Also the secret of the 
Influence we designate as God. 

What we, as individuals, should be most interested in 
is how to make the best of our earthly existence. Throwing 
away our lives, by acts of wrong doing, is not what our 
Creator intended. A bestial, wicked man is not a fit object 
to place in one of nature's beauty spots. We should use 
the means within our ability, to make ourselves worthy 
of the position, in mundane affairs, in which our Creator 
has placed us. That must be done by imploring life to come 
to our rescue. Life is our God, our Creator. There is no 
other God. There could be no other supernatural power to 
guide our existence, or it would have made itself manifest 
long ago. We have watched and prayed, and have pleaded 
and prayed again and again for divine protection from our 
troubles. We have beseeched and implored, times without 
number, for God's intervention and guidance, when we 
have been beset with great wars, and other methods of hu- 
man destruction. That protection and intervention has 
never been bestowed. It will never come to our assistance, 
because there is no personal God, such as we have been 
beseeching. Each of us, so far as our own conduct is con- 
cerned, is his own god, and life is our protector, when 
properly employed. We were created with a germ of life 
that causes us to be an independent unit in nature's domain. 
W^e have no mental communication with any other species 
of life, and there is no method, supernatural or otherwise, 
of reaching our mentalities, except through our own indi- 
vidual efforts. Life placed us at the head of worldly crea- 
tions, but there our jurisdiction ends. We cannot reach 



78 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

upwards for information, knowledge, protection or guid- 
ance, during this existence. Life has provided against that 
endeavor. We must take care of ourselves here on earth, 
and when passing away from this world we may be car- 
ried on to another and better existence. If so, life then 
will again be our benefactor, provided we are worthy of 
that blessing. Life affords us opportunity to become eligible 
to that transcendence. Is it better to sink into oblivion, or 
to become worthy of immortality? Think it over. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 79 



PROPOSITION NUMBER TWELVE 

THAT MAN SHOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE OPPORTUNITIES 

LIFE AFFORDS. HE THEN WOULD NEVER HAVE REASON 

TO BE DISCONTENTED, UNHAPPY AND UNFORTUNATE 

LIFE is kind and good to all who are willing to subject 
themselves to mental training that will develop and 
make useful their latent, innate abilities. The misfor- 
tunes of most people are brought on themselves by their own 
acts of folly. Grain will not grow abundantly in a field over- 
run with weeds and thistles. A mentality is also a product of 
nature, and will not prompt good thoughts and deeds, when 
its control is influenced by wrong doing. To achieve success 
and be happy and contented, we should cultivate our minds 
and cause them to lead us into ways that are useful and 
fraught with good results. We also should stop thinking 
that our acts are controlled by a supernatural influence, or 
that our thoughts originate from outside sources. Nothing 
could be farther from the truth. Thoughts are products of 
our own mentalities. They are prompted by our own in- 
dividual efforts. 

Our thought functions are controlled by the brain centers 
of the mass or myriads of cells and nerves that constitute 
our mentalities. Each center has its function, and it con- 
trols certain cells that cause, when actuated, mental or 
physical movements. Life is the influence that actuates 
these cells, and the six senses call them into action. It has 
been heretofore explained that all information and knowl- 
edge acquired by man from outside sources result from 
the use of the five senses, touch, taste, smell, sight and 
hearing. These senses are connected by sensory nerves 
with the cells of the brain centers that control them. With- 
out their use we could not obtain information or knowledge, 
not acquired from our latent abilities. The fact may easily 
be ascertained by consulting the means employed to educate 



80 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

deaf, dumb, and blind people. The sixth, or super-sense, 
controls thought and mental abilities awakened by problems 
that required careful study to solve them. It also controls 
the memory, and when mental effort, aroused by prayer or 
important emergencies, actuates the mentality, the sixth 
sense guides and renders the effort effective. The sixth 
sense is most important, when we are desirous of engaging 
in momentous undertakings. It also enables us to invent 
and devise useful things, and to do everything that we do, 
except to see, hear, touch, taste and smell. And these 
senses are in control of the sixth sense, because that sense 
arouses mental effort, when the brain cells are active and 
vigorous. All mental activity, however, is subject to the 
influence of life. We could not use our mentalities, or any 
of our physical functions, without the assistance of life. 
Life enables us to use the sixth or super-sense by en- 
livening the cells of the centers through which they are 
controlled. Should any of these cells become impaired or 
useless, the cellular control could not be actuated. Brain 
diseases, overindulgences, and other excesses that cause 
mental failures, also produce the same result. Life cannot 
serve us faithfully unless we cooperate by preserving and 
keeping our physical and mental functions useful, and in 
good condition. For that reason, we should train our men- 
talities to reject thought that upbuilds desires for wrong 
doing. Our mental and physical functions cannot be pre- 
served and kept useful in any other way. Thoughts awaken 
desires. Desires upbuild ability to do either right or wrong. 
If we think wrong, we are likely to do wrong. Rejecting 
thoughts of wrong doing should be our first step in mental 
training. 

There is a prejudice against resorting to prayers for 
assistance, among people not in the habit of attending relig- 
ious worship. Others prefer to let some one else pray for 
them. Both classes of people are wrong. Prayer, rightly 
implored, is the strongest and best mental upbuilding in- 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 81 

fluence under our control. But to enjoy its beneficence we 
must pray for ourselves. Prayer is a means of individual 
regeneration. It will not be effective in any other way, except 
as a suggestive influence. We may hear prayers and be 
influenced to pray for ourselves. Prayer is a method of 
mental training that should not be neglected. We pray, 
through the use of our mentalities, and life responds to 
our pleadings. When we pray to do right, to think right, 
to see the right, we are upbuilding a desire for right doing. 
The more frequently we pray, the greater will be our mental 
regeneration. Praying to do right will not create a crank 
of any person. People who become cranks through the in- 
fluence of prayer have been wasting their prayerful efforts 
by praying for impossibilities. Upbuilding the mentality 
for right doing, either by prayer or in any other manner, 
is our only method of self-reformation. If we think right, 
we shall do right. There is too much wrong doing, or there 
would not be so much suffering, misery and discontent. 



S2 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER THIRTEEN 

THAT THE GREAT PROBLEM OF MORTAL EXISTENCE WILL NOT 

BE SOLVED UNTIL WE LEARN WHY MAN WAS CREATED 

WITH A SUPERMENTALITY AND THEN PERMITTED TO 

TAKE POSSESSION OF THE WORLD AND ITS CREATIONS 

THERE could be no question concerning our absolute 
control of earthly activities. We are lords and masters 
over all mundane creations, except ourselves. We 
have not yet learned to control our greed and passions, and 
to enjoy the many benefactions which have been bestowed 
on mankind. Wealth is not satisfactory when our cupidity 
keeps on demanding still greater riches. Desire fails to 
please when we are constantly seeking new indulgences. 
Conquest does not appease our greed for further agrandize- 
ment when we are always seeking other fields to conquer. 
Demands for stimulants cannot be sated if no curb is put on 
such cravings. Animal proclivities and tendencies will not 
be restrained if no effort is made to check their harmful 
trend. Slums and dens of vice will continue to fill our social 
structure with criminals, vagabonds, tramps and dissolute, 
disreputable people as long as drink and opiates are manu- 
factured and sold. Poverty, misery, suffering and ignorance 
will continue to prevail until stamped out by the leveling up 
of individual mental energy and strength. That will never be 
done as long as we abuse and misuse our mentalities. Such 
a sweeping reform can never be accomplished until each 
individual thinks enough of his own welfare, and of the 
betterment of future generations, to first reform himself be- 
fore attempting the regeneration of others. Social and finan- 
cial conditions will never be changed in any other way. 
When starting out to amass a fortune we do not usually first 
fill the pocket6 of other people. The same principle should 
be applied to the acquirement of mental strength for right 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 83 

doing. If self -regeneration is beneficial to our neighbors, 
it should be good for our own individual welfare. 

Most people dislike to begin self-regeneration, fearing 
that it will cause them to submit to personal discomforts 
and deprivations. There should be no pleasure or enjoy- 
ment in any habit or indulgence that impairs health, or 
interferes with the happiness of others. Many of us have 
loved ones dependent on our well doing. When we indulge 
in harmful habits likely to deprive us of the ability to suc- 
cessfully follow our vocations, we are jeopardizing the wel- 
fare of those who look to us for support and protection. 
Also, there is our own health and longevity to be consid- 
ered. A man or woman broken in health by harmful indul- 
gences is not deserving of sympathy. An ill-spent life con- 
sumed by the gratification of injurious habits and desires 
is reprehensible for several reasons. Such a life does the 
world no good either by act or example. If the man who 
has wasted his existence in that manner is a parent, it is 
more than likely that the child has inherited the vices that 
caused its father's downfall. There could be no excuse 
for the existence of a person who brings misfortune into 
the world, or who will not make strenuous efforts to over- 
come the baneful influences that cause wrong doing. 

There are other vital reasons why we should regenerate 
our mentalities, and render ourselves worthy of the posi- 
tions we occupy as the owners and controllers of earthly 
creations. It is our duty to establish for all time peace and 
good will on earth. There should be abundance, happiness, 
contentment and a desire for right doing among all people. 
There should be no more wars, strife, or contentions that 
cause distress, destruction and disaster. To bring about that 
happy, desirable state of affairs should be our first endeavor, 
and that may be done by banishing from our minds thoughts 
and desires for wrong doing. Then would come the final 
aspiration of mankind, the crowning ambition of earthly 
life which we seek in everlasting, eternal existence. But 



84 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

there must be fitness, worthiness, to entitle us to that glori- 
ous reward. We cannot expect to be transcended from a 
semi-bestial state to an immaculate existence without pre- 
vious preparation, that shall be evidence of our worth and 
excellence. The method of rendering ourselves worthy of 
immortality is well understood, but the degree of fitness is 
still in question, or there would not be so many different 
forms of religious worship, and such a varied belief as to 
how immortality may be attained. Among these beliefs are 
the transmigration of souls, the day of resurrection, the 
gradual development by means of passing through a series 
of progressive existences, the suspense of purgatory, the ad- 
vance through spiritual life, and the general pardoning of 
sinful transgressions through the intercession of the Re- 
deemer. Any one of these assumptions may be right, but 
they do not seem to stand the test of thoughtful analysis, 
and therefore are subject to criticism. 

There is not and cannot be direct information on the 
manner of achieving immortality. Mankind was endowed 
with a super-mentality which is being used to civilize this 
world. That mentality may also provide means for our 
becoming worthy of an immortal existence, either here or 
elsewhere, should that have been a part of the plan of the 
Creator. We should not forget how infinitesimal we are, 
as people, when compared to the wonderful expanse and 
majesty of the universe and its limitless, countless worlds. 
It is but natural for us to look up into the sky and select 
the world that we expect to occupy in our next lease of 
life. We have acquired the habit of coveting property while 
engaged in amassing wealth here on earth. But when it 
comes to conquering other worlds, and turning them into 
blissful heavens, we are attempting to go beyond our limit- 
ations. We are human animals, or mortals, if the term 
suits better, and must abide by whatever end the Creator 
has provided for us. It may be oblivion, or it may be im- 
mortality, but this much we do know: If we are to be 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 85 

transcended it will be because of our worthiness. God, or 
the Creator, will not reward us for wrong doing. 

Immortality is the keystone of every religious belief. 
Without it each of them would fall for want of support. 
The hope of a future existence is the most beautiful thing 
in earthly life. The desire for that blissful reward keeps 
many of us virtuous and worthy, and is the incentive for 
our greater efforts to do right. The meeting of loved ones 
in a charmed existence, free from care or troubles, is our 
most valued and cherished ambition. It is a hope we cling 
to even when our thoughts are embittered with the sorrows 
and afflictions that distress us here. When a loved one 
passes away, the last kiss is a covenant, solemnly and faith- 
fully resolved, that there will be a heavenly meeting and 
that the separation is only temporary. It is these and kin- 
dred thoughts, and aspirations, that create and constitute 
our faith in immortality, and our belief in religious wor- 
ship. There would be few church organizations, and still 
fewer forms of religious worship, were it not for our hope 
of an immortal existence. 

But there is one almost unsurmountable obstacle that 
hinders our attaining the essential worthiness that will lead 
us to immortality, and that is mental regeneration. A men- 
tality actuated by thoughts and deeds of wrong doing will 
not entitle its possessor to the immortal reward. Seeking 
immortality cannot be a question of church absolution, mor- 
tal forgiveness, or an attempt to elicit divine favor by acts 
of philanthropy. We are creatures of mental activities. 
Our reputations, good or bad, are created and maintained 
by the thoughts and deeds prompted by these activities. 
No power on earth, or elsewhere, can change these mental 
activities, except through our own effort as individuals. 
Every individual stands alone in that particular. Each and 
every one of us is individually responsible for our thoughts, 
acts and deeds. We cannot attribute them to an outside ; 
or extraneous influence. As individuals each of us will 



86 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

be held responsible for the deeds instigated by our mental- 
ities. That is the reason why church ceremonies, vows, 
rituals, absolutions and other methods of purging sin can- 
not, will not, be operative. To free ourselves from wrong 
doing and render ourselves worthy of immortality, we must 
regenerate our mentalities. That is an absolute, positive 
necessity. No other person has power to perform that duty 
for us. Our mentalities are physical functions, and their 
activities may only be changed by individual, mental effort. 
It would be a serious mistake for an individual to believe 
that he could be freed from sin by the act of another per- 
son. Should such a claim be made, ask that person to 
change the color of your eyes by his mental influence, or 
conferred authority. It would be as possible for him to 
do so as it would be to absolve or free you from wrong 
doing. Immortality may only be achieved by mental regen- 
eration. That lies within the ability of every sane individual. 
It means a change of mental control, a change to be accom- 
plished by individual mental effort. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 87 



PROPOSITION NUMBER FOURTEEN 

THAT TOO MUCH CANNOT BE SAID, OR DONE, TO CONVINCE 

MANKIND THAT OUR RELIGIOUS CONVICTIONS SHOULD 

CONFORM TO ACTUAL FACT, CONCERNING THE CREATION 

OF THE WORLD AND THE WORKINGS OF NATURE. ALL 

EFFORTS TO KEEP UP A BELIEF IN INCONGRUITIES 

SHOULD BE STOPPED 

THERE is nothing in nature, or in the world's belong- 
ings, that will warrant a belief in miracles, spiritual- 
ism, mind reading, clairvoyancy, telepathy, healing by 
the extraneous thought process, or any other method of deal- 
ing with the supernatural. Everything in worldly affairs re- 
sults from common-place natural laws. The creation of the 
world was in conformity to this same process. Think of God 
as the Supreme Ruler of the universe, and not as a servant 
of man. Think of the creation of the world, when, at the 
first stages, it whirled into its orbit a burning, seething 
mass of matter. Think of the succeeding stages of the 
creation — of the cloud formation, caused by the cooling 
process, and of the floods of water that covered the world's 
surface. Think of the countless years that followed, of the 
different periods of change and preparation before animal 
and vegetable life appeared. Then came millions of other 
years of material advancement in growth and progress, 
when man, prehistoric man, was developed. There was no 
mystery about this world upbuilding, no supernatural 
methods employed, no secrecy involved. It was in accord 
with natural conditions of growth and decadence. 

Everything in nature, today, is developed and controlled 
by the same method of progress. Development and decay, 
birth, life and death, mark the changes in worldly affairs. 
It is a natural procedure, such as has been enforced since 
the beginning. God, in person, has had nothing to do about 



88 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

it. He does not now watch over man's welfare and inter- 
ests, as is the general supposition. 

There is absolutely nothing in the belief that the super- 
natural controls, or interferes in any way with our deeds 
or our lives, and especially in regard to the activities of our 
mentalities. Nothing could be further from fact than that 
God stoops to convey gossip, or healing power, from one 
person to another. Man is too small, and too insignificant 
an object in mundane affairs, to attract such attention. 

From another viewpoint, suppose that God, the Creator, 
did consent to make Himself man's lackey, what is there 
in nature to warrant the belief that thought is transmit- 
table, except when spoken, printed, telegraphed or written ? 
Thought cannot be classed as an electrical agent, nor does 
it create sound waves. It could not be sent like a streak 
of lightning, or transmitted a la phonograph. Thought has 
no carrying qualities. It must be conveyed from one per- 
son to another by supernatural power, if at all. There is 
nothing about the air which we breathe that would lead 
a person to think that air would be guilty of stealing 
thoughts for the purpose of disclosing them. What then is 
the mystery about thought transmission? Nothing, nothing 
whatever. There could be no mystery about a thing that 
does not exist. Were there such a thing as thought trans- 
mission, we would all constantly be in trouble. Were there 
a divine, or infinite mind, as it is sometimes called, spread 
about the world for telepathic mind reading and healing 
purposes, it should either take a lay-off or render itself use- 
ful to everybody. But the divine mind for worldly purposes 
does not exist. It is one of man's creations. God is a 
Creator, not a faker. Following out the logic of natural 
conditions and their causes, there could be no other con- 
clusion than that Life is the great Creator of the universe. 
That being true, life is the influence to which we should 
appeal, when supplicating strength and mercy. Life, then, 
must be the God to whom we address our prayers. Life 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 89 

actuates and assists in developing our mentalities, and ani- 
mates our physical being. Life is our means of mental 
effort. It enables us to call up thought by individual effort, 
and to employ our mental activities either for good or for 
evil purposes. Wherever there is existence, there must 
be life. 

Good thought and prayerful efforts cause well doing. 
Evil thought and wicked desires lead to wrong doing. In 
selecting a line of duty for our future endeavor we have 
the choice of these conclusions. We must adopt one or 
the other. There is no alternative, no middle ground. We 
may continue both good and wrong doing for a time, but 
unless an effort is made to upbuild our mentalities, and 
cause them to come to our relief, we will drop lower and 
lower in the scale of wrong doing. That is the natural 
result of possessing a mentality controlled by animal ten- 
dencies and proclivities. 

We must resort to the use of prayer, to upbuild our 
thought and desires for right doing. That is the only method 
possible to adopt for the preservation of our mental and 
physical health. Prayer creates commendable thought, 
and incites the mentality to prompt worthy deeds. Lack of 
prayerful thought and effort has the opposite mental effect. 
Prayerful upbuilding means mental and bodily strength 
and health. The want of this upbuilding process results in 
the acquirement of desires and habits that lead to the de- 
velopment of indulgences and excesses, and that eventu- 
ally bring about premature old age and decadence. Look 
among your acquaintances for numerous examples of this 
premature mental and physical failing. 

Salvation in this world is more important than an appar- 
ent impossibility of being worthy of salvation in a future 
existence. Those of us who expect a future reward should 
make a strenuous effort to deserve it. A bestial animal, al- 
though clothed in man's garments, will never see heaven. 
We were endowed with mentalities to uplift ourselves from 



90 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

an animal condition. That may only be done by employing 
these mentalities to become good men and women. It is 
not expected that we will garb ourselves like anchorites 
and fast and pray until both our mental and bodily health 
are ruined. Nor is it necessary to abandon any habit or 
pursuit that does not cause injury to ourselves or our 
neighbors. All that is required of us is that we shall live 
as decent, respectable, law-abiding citizens. This cannot be 
done unless we overcome habits, desires and inclinations 
that destroy mental and bodily health, and cause misery and 
distress among our fellow beings. 

Prayer, sincere, earnest prayer in secret and alone, if 
persistent and heartfelt, will prove to be our salvation 
from all forms of wrong doing. The words of a prayer 
are meaningless, if the thought and effort are not sincere. 
Our prayerful appeal should be for right doing, and for 
strength to see and know the right. Mouthing prayers for 
the sake of uttering them is a waste of time. Prayers will 
not be efficacious, if they do not reach the mentality with 
sincerity enough to prompt mental uplift. There is no 
supernatural power to listen to our invocations, and to see 
that they are answered. Our prayers are only effective 
when they upbuild a desire for right doing. That process of 
upbuilding means mental growth and development. Prayers 
are a method of education, with this difference: The 
acquisition of learning depends largely on an ability to 
memorize. The usefulness of prayer results from the de- 
velopment of thought and desires for the overcoming of 
evil influences. Both are mental efforts. Pray with the 
heart as well as with words. Pray because you need the 
mental development that will result from your prayerful 
effort. Pray as if you could only be saved by your own 
endeavors. Pray honestly and for yourself alone. No 
other prayers will benefit you. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 91 



PROPOSITION NUMBER FIFTEEN 

THAT THERE IS A WAY TO AVOID BECOMING THE SLAVES OF 

AN ANIMAL NATURE, AND OF THE EVIL 

TENDENCIES HANDED DOWN THROUGH 

ANCESTRAL INHERITANCE 

THE pathway of life is seldom strewn with blessings and 
good fortune. There must necessarily be more or less 
trouble and tribulation. An animal nature cannot be 
free from proclivities and inclinations that cause sin and 
sorrow. Also, we are largely creatures of brain cell inheri- 
tance, and not only are compelled to fight our own desires for 
wrong doing, but must struggle for self-betterment against 
the evil influences handed down by our forefathers. Were 
it not for the good inherited from this same source, which 
gives us strength to overcome harmful and oppressive ten- 
dencies, our lives would hardly be worth the struggle. 

Take as an example the experiences of a man who 
started out in life as a young lad practically free from in- 
clinations for wrong doing. His mental training at that 
early period of his existence had not developed the objec- 
tionable cellular activities that later proved to be his down- 
fall. His thoughts were not yet perverted, and did not 
prompt acts and deeds that were discreditable. He was re- 
garded as a splendid example of youth, with prospects 
for a bright successful future. As the age of maturity 
approached this young man became associated with com- 
panions who induced him to use tobacco, and a little later 
he learned to drink mild intoxicants, and to use vile lan- 
guage. Naturally shrewd and tactful, the young man estab- 
lished a small retail store, which was successful and devel- 
oped into a large business concern. Meantime he had mar- 
ried and his domestic life was made happy by the compan- 
ionship of a loving wife and several children. Under nor- 
mal conditions there would have been no good reason for 



92 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

publishing this short sketch of an unhappy career, but the 
bad habits formed in the early life of the man became in- 
struments of his misfortune, and caused him to neglect his 
business affairs, his family, and his own personal welfare. 
In due time, creditors seized and disposed of his once pros- 
perous business, his wife was compelled to seek employ- 
ment to maintain the household, and the children found it 
necessary to stop going to school in order to help support 
a drunken, dissolute father. 

The father, once a prosperous business man and the 
head of a happy family, had lost his mental control, and 
had become the slave of destructive, relentless habits. His 
mind was unbalanced to such an extent that he could not 
resist the physical demand for stimulants, and this demand 
had been gratified at the expense of his manhood, property, 
family respect and affection. He had sacrificed everything 
in life worth having, to satiate a desire for strong drink and 
its kindred deleterients. The distressing realization of his 
degradation, added to his already heavy burden of woe, was 
perhaps his greatest punishment. Looking backward into 
life and suffering intense regrets for his downfall was his 
chief torment. The fires of mental anguish, created by 
thoughts of his weakness and lack of ability to overcome 
the habits that had destroyed him, supplied the hell we 
read of in the bible. Yet, in all probability this man was not 
entirely responsible for his lamentable condition. 

Innumerable young men undergo the same experiences 
that caused the undoing of the man above mentioned, and 
pass through the crucible of fate unblemished. Through 
mental training they learned the lesson of self-restraint, and 
from that experience became strong and self-reliant. The 
difference between the two examples of manhood may be 
found in the inherited brain-cell organism of the individ- 
uals. The cellular functions handed down to the fallen 
man by his progenitors bore the seed of bestial and dis- 
solute habits. The brain organs received from the same 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 93 

source by the other man were practically free from the taint 
which causes so much distress to humanity. 

Brain and nerve cellular inheritance has much to do 
with moulding the future of mankind. The strength, worth 
and fitness of a mentality depend largely on the condition 
in which it is bestowed at the time of procreation. Drink- 
ing, dissolute parents must not expect to procreate children 
with strong, active minds, although there may be exceptions. 
A brain organ of the present day carries with it the ex- 
periences of countless pregenerations. Those experiences 
are represented by the brain and nerve cells that actuate our 
mentalities after they have been developed. But they are 
not reproductions of the thoughts, acts and deeds of our 
ancestors. They are counterparts of traits of character, 
ability to learn, mental activity, physical habits and taints, 
and similar inclinations and tendencies that controlled the 
conduct of our progenitors. The mentality is in reality the 
man, without considering his physical functions, which are 
simply instruments of convenience. The mentality prompts 
every thought, impulse, act and deed, and is in fact our 
keeper, master, guide and mentor. This brain and nerve 
cell mentality is bestowed as a brain organ, along with other 
bodily functions, at the time of the procreation impregna- 
tion. It is the master function of the child, which is created 
and given life by its parents, and therefore carries with it 
the characteristics of its parents and their ancestors. 

Parents must understand and realize the importance of 
being one hundred per cent good, before they can expect 
to procreate perfect children. That would be nearly impos- 
sible, but it is within the ability of every person to develop 
better and more satisfactory brain and nerve cellular ener- 
gies. A mentality may be made stronger and more useful 
by cultivation, in the same manner that any form of natural 
life may be freed from the causes that oppress and afflict 
it. Thoughts and inclinations for wrong doing affect the 
mind disastrously, in the same way that a blight destroys 



94 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

the good quality of fruit. The only method of upbuilding 
mankind, mentally and physically, is to free the mind from 
baneful thoughts and influences. Again impress your mind 
with the truth that thoughts are creations of mental energy, 
and that they prompt our acts and deeds. To prevent doing 
wrong, and to banish bad habits, it is necessary to allow 
none but good thoughts to occupy the mind. Intense, earn- 
est, heartfelt prayer for right doing is a panacea for all 
forms of mental evil. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 95 



PROPOSITION NUMBER SIXTEEN 

THAT MAN WAS ENDOWED WITH A SUPERIOR MENTALITY 

FOR THE PURPOSE OF ACHIEVING IMMORTALITY, AND 

TO UPBUILD THE WELFARE OF THE WORLD 

MAN, since the beginning, has been inspired with the 
lief that he is to be blessed with a future existence, 
an everlasting life, where his earthly hopes for happi- 
ness and contentment will meet with full fruition. That man's 
dream of heaven, as a paradise of perfect joy, was born of 
earthly hopes, is shown by consulting his various religious 
beliefs. Each type of man, and each peculiar belief, have 
their own idea of what the heavenly reward will be. But all 
of these hopes are based on the one principle that man must 
earn the immortal reward by some great personal act, or 
through the excellence of his life. It is not necessary to 
describe the particular difference in the nature of these re- 
wards. They are familiar to most readers. 

There was only one way for man to have acquired this 
hope of immortality, and that was through the endowment 
of his superior brain cell organism. Man must have re- 
ceived this inspiration from that source, or it would not 
have caused him to embody it in his religious belief. No 
other of God's animal creations are intelligent enough to 
exert mental ability, except that derived by the five senses, 
and that is only sufficient to enable them to live, and to seek 
temporary protection from their own predatory kind, and 
from the vicissitudes of nature. Man was invested with 
ability to think, seek divine guidance, receive inspiration, 
invent and perfect useful articles and to prepare himself 
for immortality. This superior mental acquisition is desig- 
nated as the sixth or super-sense. Man did not possess the 
ability to make full use of this superior sense in the early 
stages of his existence. Like many other stages in the de- 



96 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

velopment of man's mentality, the sixth sense has been 
gradually developed to its present status step by step, and 
eventually it will practically free man from his thraldom 
of sinful tendencies. 

Immortality, then, must be the ultimate reward of man. 
It may not come until he shall be able to throw off the yoke 
of wrong doing entirely, or it may be possible that diligent 
and sincere effort to make himself worthy may entitle 
man to that blessing. There is one thing sure, man must 
be his own redeemer. No one but each distinct individual 
is capable of dealing with his mentality. The task of 
reformation cannot be delegated to some one else. Individ- 
ual endeavor, earnest and sincere, is the only way a brain 
cell organism may be regenerated. The prayers of others 
will not avail. Each of us must pray for himself. That will 
be our only means of salvation. No other method of mental 
effort will actuate our brain cells and strengthen them for 
right doing. We must all earn the immortal reward by 
becoming worthy of that boon. God does not free us from 
our sinful natures. That is our own solemn duty. That is 
why a superior mentality was bestowed on man. We should 
learn how to make good use of it. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 97 



PROPOSITION NUMBER SEVENTEEN 

THAT THE ADAGE, "MAN PROPOSES AND GOD DISPOSES/' 

SHOULD BE REVERSED TO READ, "GOD PROPOSES AND 

MAN DISPOSES" 

THIS world was created and peopled in accordance with 
natural laws. Man was made the superior animal, and 
soon came to his own by assuming control of every- 
thing in the world, except the elements. There is no evidence 
that the Creator ever interfered, in any way, with man's 
domination. Nature and the remainder of the animal king- 
dom could not do so, and today we find man more firmly 
seated on the throne of earthly power than he was at the be- 
ginning. God may have proposed something differently; if 
so, His wishes have not made themselves manifest. Man 
is lord and master over everything but his own follies, and 
they are constantly keeping him in trouble. 

Whatever man proposes is left to his own efforts, to be 
made prosperous and useful. If man sows a field of grain, 
and neglects to take care of it, God does not perform that 
duty. If man makes an investment, and does not use good 
judgment, God fails to restore the losses. If man makes a 
misstep and tumbles off a building, God lets him fall, and 
does not even pick him up. If man goes into battle and 
gets in the way of a bullet, God will not turn it aside, and 
frequently lets the missile kill the victim. If man goes out 
in a boat and upsets it, God lets him swim to the shore, or 
drown. If man contracts a contagious disease and spreads 
it about a community, God does nothing to prevent people 
from catching it, and they are compelled to put up signs 
of warning. If a poor woman deposits all her money in a 
bank and the bank fails, God lets her suffer the loss without 
notice. If a train load of passengers runs off the track, or 
a steamboat loaded with people blows up, or if a church 
filled with worshippers is struck by lightning, or if an 



98 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

assassin throws a lighted bomb in a crowd of people, God 
never pays attention to the number of people killed. 

Once in a while, a person will strike luck and win a 
fortune, or some one will be sick and get well, or another 
person will dig a well and find oil, or a dealer in stocks 
will make a winning, or a general will conquer an enemy, 
or the farmers will have good crops, or a church will pay 
off its debt, or a country will prosper, or other similar good 
fortune befall people, and then everybody will shout, "That 
is God's providence, God has helped us." In most instances 
where people have prospered, or good luck has shown up, 
it will be found that the benefits resulted from the use of 
common sense. It was evidence of a sane mentality. God 
had no more to do with causing the good fortune than he 
had with bringing about the misfortune. 

We should rely entirely on our own efforts to attain 
success, in any walk of life. God does not watch over us, 
or guide us in our undertakings. He does not put thoughts 
in our minds, or lead us out of dangers. He does not show 
us gold mines or cause us to win fortunes from specula- 
tions. He does not invest healers with power to cure dis- 
ease, through an alleged divine mind. God never put 
prophecies into any person's mouth, or allowed the spirits 
of deceased mortals to hover in our midst and give rap- 
pings and materializing seances. All schemes and efforts 
to bring God into prominence as a servant or helper of 
man, or as a guide or a protector, are belittling His majesty 
as a Creator, the controlling Influence of the universe. 

Man must win his own battles in life. God is not man's 
assistant or protector. Man was created with a mentality 
which, if properly developed and used, would bring him all 
of the happiness, prosperity and contentment that God 
could bestow, were He inclined to do so. Man is selfish. 
He practically owns the earth, has control of it, and still is 
not satisfied. Man's religious belief has much to do with 
his selfishness. He expects God to watch over his endeav- 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 99 

ors and help him rob his fellow kind. Man's church train- 
ing leads him to think that God guides us in all things, and 
man prays for that assistance. If disappointed, man is told 
by his religious teachers that God has some good reason 
for withholding His favor. When man learns to pray for 
his own mental development, he will not need God's help, 
even were it available. The mentality is man's guide to 
success and well doing. Develop it by sincere, earnest 
prayer, and luck and belief in the supernatural will cease 
to appear as factors in our lives. 



100 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER EIGHTEEN 

THAT ABILITY TO DO THINGS, TO ACCOMPLISH SATISFACTORY 

RESULTS, TO BRING ABOUT SUCCESSFUL ISSUES, TO ACQUIRE 

KNOWLEDGE, TO LEARN TO MEMORIZE AND TO BECOME 

PROFICIENT IN PHYSICAL FEATS ARE RESULTS OF 

MENTAL TRAINING 

WHEN a problem of any kind is presented to a man 
and he throws up his hands and exclaims, "That is 
too deep for me," you may take it for granted that 
the man is either prejudiced or is possessed with a non-active, 
dense mentality. A lazy mentality might express the con- 
dition better. Prejudice has more to do with our not trying 
to understand mental propositions than any other reason. 
One churchman will say that christian science is "no good/' 
without knowing anything about its principles ; another will 
excuse himself from reading a new religious theory, with 
the statement that "the old way is good enough for me," 
and a third person will say, "You cannot expect me to un- 
derstand this new belief, or to be convinced of its worthi- 
ness ; it is too deep for me," after he has read it over 
several times. Here are three evidences of prejudice. The 
last one is least excusable. Even prejudice may be over- 
come by mental effort. It is a question of mental training. 
Learning to play a musical instrument becomes a habit 
after much practice. The fingers, mind and sense of hear- 
ing are trained to be agile and expert by the time the habit 
is acquired. We learn a lesson by study and the use of an 
ability to memorize. Study develops the ability to memorize. 
The same mental application enables us to solve problems, 
acquire knowledge, or to understand whether or not we are 
worshipping a real God or a myth. Mental application, 
mental training, points out the false from the true. It estab- 
lishes fact and overthrows fiction. It shows what is right 
and what is wrong, but the information may not be had 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 101 

without mental activity. The person who will study a 
proposition without prejudice may always be convinced, 
either one way or the other. But the one who reads it 
without allowing the argument to create an impression, will 
know no more about its worth than would a fly resting on 
the ceiling. Everything we know, or do, must necessarily 
become a creation of mental activity. Should the mental 
organism be sluggish, and refuse to respond to mental effort, 
there is little hope of our ever astonishing the world with 
acts of mental and physical genius. 

Look farther into the acquirements of mental training 
and mental effort. See the gymnast in his nimble, daring 
physical feats, which show the result of mental training. 
Every movement and act, and their remarkable precision, 
required years of study and practice, every moment of 
which the gymnast employed his mind in achieving this 
proficiency. Without this mental training the physical 
ability could not have been developed. Oratorical ability, 
business ability, and every other ability that is successful 
and worth having, are created by mental training and ren- 
dered useful by mental effort. Such success cannot be 
accomplished by sluggish minds, or those controlled by 
prejudice. Mental training creates habit, whether it be right 
or wrong — the habit of a business nature, or the habit of 
speaking in public, playing a musical instrument, throwing 
somersaults, or of becoming proficient in any other manner. 
We must first acquire the habit of doing things before we 
can be successful. That assertion applies to our efforts to 
understand right from wrong, and how to do right. 

Our mentalities guide, control and record our every 
thought, impulse, act and deed. We do everything in life 
in accordance with our brain cellular development. That 
development is created by mental activity, caused by mental 
effort. The effort results from the use of the six senses. 
The five senses, touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing, 
prompt mental activities to acquire information and knowl- 



102 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

edge from outside sources, and the sixth or super-sense, 
known as our innate nature, controls activities awakened 
by memory, study, ability to invent and devise, to prepare 
ourselves for immortality, to distinguish between right and 
wrong, and to do everything else that a mentality is capable 
of doing, including the control of our physical functions. 
The record of our mentalities is shown by the brain cellular 
development. If we dance, the mental effort prompts the 
use of activities that control both mental and physical func- 
tions. That explanation applies to everything we do where 
both mental and physical functions are called into activity. 
If we study, both the sight and memorizing functions are 
employed. If we simply ponder, or use the mind to think 
out problems, the sixth sense alone controls our mental 
activities. Every physical and mental act is the result of 
brain cellular activities created by mental effort, or impulse. 
This brain cellular development is located in the brain 
organ, and it is known as our mentality. It consists of 
myriads of nerve or brain cells, which are connected with 
nerve fibers that ramify in every function and part of our 
bodies. The brain cells that actuate and cause mental and 
physical movements are congregated in centers in the 
various parts of the brain organism. These centers control 
the different mental and physical functions, which enable 
us to be useful to ourselves and to the world. Life inspires 
us and is the means of our existence. To life we also are 
indebted for the ability to procreate and perpetuate man- 
kind. 

The process of mental training, mental development and 
the necessity of preserving our mentalities, that they may 
be strong and vigorous, should be clear to careful and un- 
prejudiced readers. Mental training to develop an ability 
for wrong doing, is the same as when developing an ability 
to do right, to acquire an education, or to learn to play a 
musical instrument, or to do anything else to be done. It 
is exclusively a physical process of brain cellular develop- 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 103 

merit, and anything we do right or wrong becomes a habit 
if continued long enough to be acquired. Should it be a 
habit that injures health, morals, or reputation, and an 
effort is made to discontinue it, that effort must become 
a habit that will overthrow and subjugate the one that is 
undesirable. In that way right doing is made to overcome 
wrong doing. Should we desire to place ourselves on record 
as candidates for immortality, we should carry constantly 
in our thoughts the words, "I want to do right, I want to 
see the right, I want to know the right." Such a desire, 
developed into a habit that will control our mentalities, 
would finally result in our becoming worthy of immortality. 



104 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER NINETEEN 

THAT THE MOST LAUDABLE AMBITION TO WHICH MAN OR 

WOMAN COULD ASPIRE, IS TO BECOME A PARENT OF 

HEALTHY, INTELLECTUAL, MORAL CHILDREN, WITH 

VIGOROUS, ACTIVE MENTALITIES 

IT IS natural for us to love children and to like to see 
them full of life and good nature. We admire them 
because they are innocent of the mental afflictions that 
may later seize them in their toils. We cherish innocence and 
protect it with hearfelt interest, when necessary to do so. 
We look upon a child as we do a beautiful flower just blos- 
soming into beauty and fragrance. The innocent child repre- 
sents the most beautiful and valuable thing in nature's do- 
main. The flower is the adornment that reminds us of the 
importance of retaining the childhood innocence throughout 
adult life. The early life of a child is innocent and free from 
guile, because the process of mental development has not 
been smirched with the influences and experiences that beset 
the growing mentality in later years. The environments 
of the family circle, where children are usually reared, are 
seldom invaded by the gross activities of the ordinary adult 
existence. Opportunity has not yet come to sully the inno- 
cence of childhood. 

There are several reasons why adult life mars the in- 
nocence of childhood, and sometimes displaces it entirely 
from the person's mind. One of these reasons is the devel- 
opment of objectionable inherited traits of character. Usu- 
ally these carnal traits do not manifest themselves until 
maturity. It is then that the development of inherited 
cellular influences begin to control the mental activities. 
Other inherited traits, like those of a turbulent, violent 
temper, tendencies to pilfer, inclinations to be cunning, 
greedy, vicious, and similar taints, may become apparent. 
Also there are commendable inherited traits of character 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 105 

developed. The next reason for the disappearance of child- 
hood's innocence will be found in the acquired influences 
that cause wrong doing. Bad habits may be developed, be- 
cause of the reprehensible example set by the parents, evil- 
minded playmates, and others with whom the youngsters 
may come in contact. Growing children are prone to follow 
the examples of those with whom they are associated. That 
is one way they acquire mental training. 

The last and most serious reason why childhood inno- 
cence is banished when the adult age has been reached, is 
the absence of the moral influences created by early mental 
training. Learning to do right when the mentality is ac- 
quiring its first education builds a foundation for the 
accession of future moral training that is a strong defense 
against desires for wrong doing. Mental activities acquired 
early in life are always most desirable. They retain their 
vigor longer and are easier to control. That statement will 
be substantiated by people well along in years, whose mem- 
ories recall early experiences, when those of later years 
have been forgotten. The mental training for the first 
thirty-five years of life fixes the character of a person, and 
determines the value of his mental activities. He may ac- 
complish greater undertakings after that period, but his 
mental abilities will not have been made stronger and more 
effective by these experiences. After the first thirty-five 
years, habits and vices, if acquired, will have become strong 
influences, and will begin to work injury to the mentality. 

Parents cannot overestimate the importance of giving 
their children a moral mental training, an education in 
moral culture. Such a training may prevent their falling 
into the pitfall of wickedness in later years. It may prove 
a safeguard that will protect them from evil associations, 
and the acquirement of bad habits and vicious tendencies. 
It may keep them from becoming disreputable and un- 
worthy, and from sinking into the depths of poverty and 
despair. Teach the children to pray while their mentalities 



106 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

are being developed and their characters are forming. Give 
them to understand what prayer means to them, and the 
protection it will afford in times of need. Show them clearly 
and plainly that prayer for right doing, right thinking, and 
right seeing into the problems of life, will strengthen their 
minds and cause them to be healthy, vigorous and ready 
to meet any and all emergencies. Tell them to pray at 
every possible opportunity, and not to pray in public or 
where their prayers will attract attention. They are to 
pray for their own welfare and for nothing else. Induce 
them to be sincere and earnest in their prayers, that their 
mentalities may be invigorated and influenced for right do- 
ing. Pray with them until they have acquired the prayer 
habit, and see that they grow into adult life still retaining 
their childhood innocence. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 107 



PROPOSITION NUMBER TWENTY 

THAT THE MUCH VAUNTED STATEMENT THAT MAN WAS 

CREATED AFTER THE IMAGE OF GOD MUST BE A MISTAKE. 

MAN IS AN ANIMAL, AND IS POSSESSED WITH ANIMAL 

PROCLIVITIES. WHAT MAN MOST NEEDS IS MENTAL 

SELF-UPBUILDING. HE MAY THEN BE WORTHY OF 

A COMPARISON WITH GOD 

THE prehistoric man, from whom we are descendants, 
was an animal in act and being. He possessed a su- 
perior mentality, which was subsequently developed 
into an ability to think and plan for his future welfare, and 
which also led this prehistoric ancestor to club down his 
opponents and gain mastery over them. This original man 
was a true child of nature, and from him we have inherited 
animal traits which cannot be abandoned, although our men- 
talities may be trained to a marked degree of intellectuality. 
Our mortal existence is maintained by respiration and by 
taking food, and like that of other animals our demise results 
from either disease, injury, or old age. We are subject to 
the changes incident to all animal life, with this exception, 
we are permitted to indulge in excesses and follies that 
do not afflict other animals. There is nothing in our pro- 
creation, birth, life, or death that is different from that of 
other vertebrates, and there is no indication that we are 
protected by either miraculous or supernatural power. We 
are equipped with a superior mentality, apparently bestowed 
to enable us to control the world. That duty is now being 
discharged very much to our discredit. 

Instead of peacefully looking after our own affairs, and 
performing good deeds that would bring happiness and 
contentment to our posterity, we have from the beginning 
waged fraticidal wars, and have been guilty of bloodshed 
and crimes too horrible to mention. Many of these wars, 



108 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

in which multitudes were tortured and slain, were incited 
by differences in religious opinions and similar dissensions. 
At this late day, great nations have been fighting and 
slaughtering each other, calling on God to give them vic- 
tory. If God rules the world with a firm control of justice 
and mercy, He should curb the warlike propensities of His 
mortal children, and stop their career of bloodshed, rapine 
and ruin. 

Many readers will not agree with the assertion that God 
does not personally rule the world, and does not interfere 
with the processes of nature. But that is true. It is a truth 
that should be written in every person's mind. It is a fact 
that cannot successfully be refuted. It is both truth and 
fact that must inevitably be revealed to the thoughtful 
investigator. 

God is a Creator. He does not intervene when His 
creations go astray. Man rules the world, so far as the 
affairs of nature are concerned. When man does wrong, 
he must suffer the consequences of his wrong doing. When 
man wages war, there is no other hand than his own to 
stop its ravages. When nature's elements sweep over the 
land to destroy man and his property, God does not prevent 
the havoc. When a plague, or an earthquake, or other 
similar calamities beset the welfare of man, there is no 
supernatural intervention to halt the disasters. Man must 
suffer unhelped, unrelieved. Supplications for assistance, 
relief, aid, defense or protection may be offered by thous- 
ands or millions in events of national distress, but they 
always pass unnoticed, unheard. Man must provide his 
own relief and protection from his own follies and weak- 
nesses, and from the assaults of nature. That is nature's 
law, God's law. It has been in force since the beginning of 
the world. It will continue to guide the workings of nature 
as long as time and God exist. 

Man through his own mentality governs the affairs of the 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 109 

world, outside of its connection with the universe. It will 
be seen, then, that when man is bestial and sinful, the af- 
fairs of the world will be controlled by his sinful nature. 
That is unavoidable. God cannot inspire a wicked mentality 
with pure and commendable thoughts and deeds. If man 
is desirous of living uprightly, and of seeing humanity 
thrive, prosper, be happy and contented, he must free his 
mentality from the cellular control that prompts wrong do- 
ing. That is the solution of earthly troubles. 



110 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER TWENTY-ONE 

THAT MENTAL DISTRESS AND CASES OF "NERVES" RESULT 

FROM LOSS OF MENTAL CONTROL. RIGHT THINKING AND 

RIGHT DOING WILL BANISH SUCH EVILS. FIGHT THEM 

FEARLESSLY THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF PRAYER. THAT 

IS THE PANACEA FOR MENTAL ILLS 

IF WE begin to fight an evil nature with fear in our 
hearts, we are more likely to be defeated than if we 
are confident of winning. An effort to upbuild 
strength for right doing should not be impeded or hindered 
by thought or act that does not aid the upbuilding process. 
If we pray for strength to do right, and at the same time 
plead for protection from wrong doing, we are recalling, in 
our thoughts, reprehensible acts that should be forgotten. 
Our prayers, to be efficacious, should be free from such 
thoughts, and devoted exclusively to a mental effort for rijht 
doing. Thinking wrong will never rid the mentality from a 
tendency for wrong doing. Purge the thoughts, at all times, 
from inclinations to recall disagreeable incidents, or to dwell 
on imaginative wrong doing, even in supplications for pro- 
tection against evil. 

Much of our trouble might be avoided if we would apply 
the principle of right thinking to our thoughts when the 
mentality is disturbed. Cases of "nerves" when distressed 
by fancied or real troubles may be averted without the use 
of opiates, or drugs of any kind. Insomnia is another form 
of distress that may be overcome by mental training. Hypo- 
chondria and even more deeply seated mental perturbances 
may be overthrown by persistent mental effort. The over- 
coming of any mental distress, where the brain cells are in- 
tact and have not lost their ability to be actuated, is the 
result of mental training. As has been previously stated, 
mental disturbances and perturbations ensue from loss of 
control, where there is lack of effective mental effort to 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 111 

subdue the cellular forces that create the agitation. The 
proper remedy for such a mental condition is the upbuild- 
ing of a mental control that will alleviate the trouble. That 
remedy must be had by mental training. 

Take a case of insomnia as an example. The distressed 
person will wallow around in bed seeing all kinds of mental 
spooks, while trying to court sleep. Hours will pass in 
vain efforts to quiet the restless mind, and in the morning 
he will feel pretty well exhausted. To overcome the pertur- 
bation, and regain mental control of the overtaxed brain 
cells, the sixth, or super-sense, should be made to supply 
energy for that purpose. That means a resort to persistent, 
consistent prayer. It would be better to pass an entire 
night in fervent prayer than to tumble about in bed in 
throes of wakeful agony. Prayer for strength to do right, 
often repeated, will bring about the desired relief. It may 
not be done the first, or the second night, but time and per- 
sistence will conquer insomnia, or any other mental dis- 
tress, if the brain cells are in condition to respond to the 
prayerful appeals. 

Readers may think it strange that prayer, rightly im- 
plored, may heal disease as well as overcome wrong do- 
ing. Any form of physical or mental weakness that results 
from an undesirable development, or a lack of sane control 
of the mentality, may be righted by mental training. The 
process is purely physical. Supernatural influence has noth- 
ing to do with it. It is a question either of changing a 
mental control by means of cellular development, or of 
strengthening or restoring a mental control that has been 
overworked. Both processes accomplish the same result, an 
upbuilding of mental control for right doing. Prayer, if 
free from extraneous influences, will arouse mental energy 
to change the mental control, and create a dominating de- 
sire for right doing. That means a subjugation of tenden- 
cies for wrong doing in reforms of bad habits and wicked- 
ness, and a rest for the brain cell activities that cause mental 



112 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

perturbation and distress. There could be no mystery in 
this method of healing physical and sinful ills. They be- 
long to the element of the mentality which we may desig- 
nate as the instigator of wrong doing. There are only two 
cellular elements in the mentality. One inspires right doing, 
which includes every thought, act and deed that upbuilds 
personal and public welfare. The other instigates wrong 
doing, which constitutes everything in human life that im- 
pairs health and destroys individual and public progress, 
prosperity, and comfort. 

Segregating the regeneration of sin and wickedness from 
religious worship may not seem productive of good, because 
all methods of reformation have heretofore been controlled 
by religious associations. But in reality regeneration is a 
mental and not a religious reformation. Prayer is the chief 
factor in upbuilding a mentality for right doing; but de- 
vout supplications are not for supernatural aid, but for 
the purpose of creating or stimulating a greater and more 
effective desire for right doing. We will not overcome our 
sinful natures without first feeling a desire to do so, and 
the longer we neglect the endeavor to abandon wicked ways, 
the less chance there will be for our reformation. Church 
methods try to reform sinners by persuasion. The means 
advocated in this volume appeal to the common sense of 
the reader. It is a question of brain cellular control. A 
control created for right doing assures freedom from sinful 
and wicked desires, from the influence of bad habits, mental 
weakness, and many forms of illness. Church reforms must 
be brought about by a change of mental control accom- 
plished in the same manner. The brain cells of a proposed 
convert cannot be actuated by pulpit oratory, or by the 
amens of a congregation. The convert must do his own 
praying. The reformation is an individual act. The cellular 
organism of a mentality cannot be made to respond to ex- 
traneous influences. Therefore mental regeneration is not 
a creature of religious worship. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 118 



PROPOSITION NUMBER TWENTY-TWO 

THAT OUR MENTALITIES ARE NOT LIKE SPONGES, INTO WHICH 
INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE MAY BE SOAKED, AND 
THEN SQUEEZED OUT WHEN NEEDED J NOR ARE THEY A 
WHITE AND GRAY MATTER ACTUATED SUPERNATUR- 
ALLY, ONE FOR THE INTELLECT, AND THE OTHER FOR 
PHYSICAL MOVEMENTS; NOR ARE WE POSSESSED 
BY A SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE THAT REAPPEARS 
AFTER WE HAVE PASSED AWAY, AS GHOSTS, 
AURAS, OR SHADOWS OF OUR EARTHLY EX- 
ISTENCE AS INDIVIDUALS. SUCH PHE- 
NOMENA ARE CREATIONS OF VIVID 
IMAGINATIONS 

Wl ACQUIRE information and knowledge from out- 
side sources by using our eyes, ears, nose, mouth and 
sense of touch or feeling. These five senses enable 
us to read and observe, to listen and hear, to small and dis- 
criminate, to taste and select, to touch and feel and distin- 
guish what is desirable. Every bit of information and knowl- 
edge acquired from sources independent of our own individ- 
ualities must from necessity come through the medium of 
these senses. There is no other means of storing the in- 
formation and knowledge thus acquired in the memory 
cells of our mentalities. The storing is done by developing 
and actuating brain cells for that purpose. This statement 
will prompt the thought: How could the mentality supply 
brain cells for all the thoughts, acts, deeds and impulses 
created by a lifetime of mental activity? Consider how so 
many words in the human vocabulary may be constructed 
from an alphabet of only twenty-six letters, or how so 
many, many melodies, and such a wonderful variety of 
harmonies, have been created by the use of only seven notes 
and their sharps and flats. Then, recall the fact that all 



114 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

of these melodies and harmonies are creatures of brain cell 
creation, that they owe their origin to the activities of a 
human brain organism. 

The five senses have nothing to do with musical com- 
position or other inventions, although a knowledge of music 
must be acquired by their use, in the same manner all in- 
formation and knowledge are stored away in the mentality 
for future needs. A person may be an expert performer in 
music, or any other mental accomplishment, and not be 
able to compose music, or to invent and devise useful 
things for the benefit of mankind and the world. Every 
person possesses the sense that develops an ability to be or- 
iginal to a greater or less extent. It is a latent, innate 
sense, which has been designated as the sixth sense. This 
sense enables its possessor to think, to recall past events, 
to invent and devise, to seek immortality, to apply the 
rule and guide of common sense to all things under con- 
sideration, to develop latent, inherited ability and to be- 
come a worthy, reputable citizen. The sixth sense con- 
trols the use of the five senses, but cannot acquire informa- 
tion and knowledge from extraneous sources. It fixes the 
record and makes use of knowledge after it becomes mem- 
orized, and its use is also the cause of man's rise or fall 
in public estimation. A person with a vigorous mentality 
may do either right or wrong. His life history will be re- 
corded in the mentality by his deeds. If the mentality 
prompts right doing, the history will be praiseworthy. If 
the mentality is controlled by wrong influences, the history 
would better have been left unrecorded. 

The latent, innate sense that controls our abilities for 
right and wrong doing, and which may be developed to 
an extraordinary degree when conditions are favorable, 
should be protected from the inroads created by bad habits, 
the use of strong drink, narcotics, drugs, tobacco and other 
deleterients that are harmful both to our brain cellular 
activities and to our physical functions. Some people use 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 115 

stimulants to create cellular activities that exhilarate and 
cause them increased pleasures. The use of stimulants 
weakens our ability to control the mental activities that 
create the joyful sensations, and in time opiates must be 
taken to slow them down. There should be no fun in in- 
viting disease to weaken and destroy our abilities to enjoy 
the world's beauties and pleasures, or in calling in death 
to usher us into oblivion. We should do what is possible 
to assist nature in upbuilding our physical and mental activ- 
ities, and in that way prolong our lives. We should hold 
onto the present existence as long as it is enjoyable. It may 
be a long time between death and immortality, unless we 
make vigorous efforts to free ourselves from influences that 
cause wrong doing. 

The sixth, or the innate sense, should be designated as 
the super-sense, because it has enabled mankind to rise 
from an animal condition and take possession of the world 
and its other creations. The sixth, or super-sense, will do 
more for us if we will improve our opportunities. Instead 
of handicapping and weakening the control of this sense 
by indulging follies that eventually distress and impair our 
abilities, we should employ means to overcome mental and 
physical frailties that incite wrong doing. That may be 
done by resorting to the prayer method of upbuilding and 
strengthening the mentality. There is no other way of cre- 
ating a strong desire for right doing that will develop and 
actuate brain cells for that purpose. Thinking will not do 
it. Ceremonies and ritual services will not make sufficient 
impression to create a brain cellular influence. Longing for 
a better life and weeping over past offences will fail to give 
relief. Advice and absolution vows will not serve their 
purpose. Nothing will create and strengthen a desire and 
a purpose for right doing, and the overcoming of wicked 
influences, but prayer direct from the heart. Brain cellular 
strength must be developed and made active. That cannot 
be done by soap bubble methods of invoking aid. Our 



116 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

prayers must be sincere, and without extraneous thought 
that would destroy their effectiveness. We must pray as 
if we were beseeching help from immediate danger. That 
is precisely the object of the prayer. We want relief from 
mental and physical perils that endanger health and our 
hope of immortality. The relief must be had through the 
medium of a regenerated mentality, created by the influ- 
ence of prayer. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 117 



PROPOSITION NUMBER TWENTY-THREE 

THAT MANKIND GENERALLY IS THE PRODUCT OF MENTAL 

TRAINING, OF MENTAL DEVELOPMENT, SHOULD BE 

UNDERSTOOD BY EVERY PERSON 

NO two individuals are exactly alike in any one char- 
acteristic, not even of the same family, and born from 
the same parents. They may act alike and resemble 
each other in appearance, but there will always be a differ- 
ence in their conduct, habits, desires and general demeanor. 
This difference results from their mental training. Their 
brain cell development is not the same. Take the people 
of different nationalities and compare their mental charac- 
teristics, or their degrees of intelligence and intellectual at- 
tainments. If mental training has not caused the difference 
in the habits and other characteristics of these people, to 
what source may the difference be attributed? It must have 
been brought about by the various grades and degrees of 
brain cell development created by the peculiar habits and 
needs, and the extent of their intellectual attainments. 

It is not necessary to go to other countries to ascertain 
why, and how, no two people are exactly alike. Take two 
children in the same family. One will be bright, quick to 
learn, and be controlled by a vivacious, cheerful temper- 
ament. The other will be dull, slow to memorize lessons, 
and possess a sluggish disposition. One child has an active, 
vigorous mentality. The brain organism of the other child 
does not develop its cellular influence as freely. Were all 
mentalities alike, and all opportunities for their development 
the same, then we could be alike in our mental traits and 
characteristics. But our habits, likes and dislikes, our 
methods of living and kinds of pleasures and enjoyments, 
are different. Some of us enjoy study, and the acquirement 
of education. Others are part Indian by nature, and prefer 



118 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

outdoor life and ignorance. We all have our preferences, 
and that is why there are so many different kinds of people. 

Were the generally accepted idea that our minds are 
controlled by supernatural influences correct, we would all 
be the same in temperament and intellectual status. The 
supposition that God leads and protects us from evil ought 
to be realized soon, if ever. The world has been traveling 
its orbit for many millions of years, and thus far no Creator, 
except Life, has made His appearance. Man has grown 
and developed from a semi-savage to a civilized being, 
through his own individual efforts. He also has caused 
animal and vegetable existence to thrive, and become useful 
to him. In all this progress, nothing but the hand of nature 
has assisted man in gaining control of both himself and 
the other mundane creations. 

The cause for this world advancement has been man's 
mentality. It has been a conquest won by the development 
of man's brain cellular organism. There has been no 
divine influence to control this earthly upbuilding, or there 
would have been no prehistoric man and no earthly wilder- 
ness to civilize and render useful and habitable. With this 
plain fact staring man in the face, he refuses to become 
responsible for the world's progress, and is trying to find a 
personal God, on whom he may shift the honors. There is 
only one God who has helped man to rescue both himself 
and the world from earthly chaos, and that has been Life, 
the Creator. But man asks, What is life? Without life, the 
man could not ask the question. 

The churchman will explain that God created life, and 
is using that influence to control His numerous other cre- 
ations. It would hardly be fair to ask the churchman who 
created God, but that question would be as easy to answer 
as it would be for him to explain the existence of the God 
who created life. We do not know the personal God of the 
bible or the One we worship in religious services and in 
our prayers. We do know life. It is an unexplainable in- 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 119 

fluence, but it is with us every moment of our existence. 
Life restores us to health, is the cause of our pleasures 
and joys, is the creator of our children, the promoter of 
our welfare, the essential of all things beautiful, and the 
controller of everything within our knowledge. What is 
life? The big wheel that turns the universe. 



120 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER TWENTY-FOUR 

THAT THE MIND SHOULD BE DEVELOPED AND UPBUILDED BY 
CAREFUL METHODS TO CAUSE IT TO BECOME STRONG, 
VIGOROUS, ACTIVE AND USEFUL. WE SHOULD CULTI- 
VATE OUR MINDS AND FREE THEM FROM HARM- 
FUL TENDENCIES, IN THE SAME PAINSTAK- 
ING MANNER WE CULTIVATE OTHER 
MATERIAL THINGS FOR OUR 
PERSONAL NEED 

THERE are two methods of mental training for the 
acquirement of knowledge, one of which should be 
avoided as detrimental when employed to an excessive 
degree. Cramming the mind with book knowledge is a 
harmful method of developing an ability to memorize, 
which will, in time, become a dominating mental factor to 
the partial exclusion of other forms of mental activity. It 
is essential that the memory function should be made strong 
and vigorous, but its development should not be so protracted 
and continuous as to exclude the upbuilding of other im- 
portant mental attributes. Should that exclusion occur, the 
trend of the mind or mentality will lack vigor and force. 
Memory is not an agressive, forceful mental function. It 
is not a creative ability, and there must be other mental 
forces or energy developed to cause memory to be useful 
and practical. A watch or other mechanical device is value- 
less unless it has some form of power to propel its mechan- 
ism. Storing away knowledge in the mind is not advisable 
if there is no cellular energy to make practical use of it. 
Money in a bank is worthless as a circulatory medium when 
there is no opportunity to invest it. Many minds have been 
practically ruined by a misdirected desire to cram them with 
book knowledge at the expense of developing mental vigor 
and strength. Practical thought and deeds are more val- 
uable to mankind, and the world, than book knowledge 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 121 

stored away in brain organ memory cells that cannot be 
used. 

All mentalities are constructed alike so far as brain 
centers and cellular functions are concerned. Brain organs 
are inherited in the same manner that any physical part of 
the body is handed down the line of ancestry by our pro- 
genitors. But the cellular developments of the mentality 
differ, or there would not be such varied mental character- 
istics. If a mentality lacks vigor and is not practical in 
thought and deed, the deficiency may be developed by 
mental effort and the essentials to a successful career sup- 
plied in that way. In other words a defective, impractical 
mind may be reconstructed by mental development, pro- 
vided the brain cellular functions have not been injured 
by disease, senility, or the long excessive use of any one 
particular mental function to the deteriment of another. 
Practical thought is an upbuilding mental attribute. Prac- 
tical acts and deeds create good will, kindness, contentment, 
happiness, success and prosperity. 

There is another way to consider the development and 
upbuilding of the mind, and that is by a careful investiga- 
tion of the cause and activities of both mental and physical 
functions. Mental activities incite physical movements, and 
if we are lethargic and lazy this lack of desire to be active 
physically is due to want of mental vigor. Some one of the 
mental functions needs speeding up. If we are impelled to 
overdo in any particular line of physical activity there is 
need for slowing down a mental function. In order to live 
reasonably, sensibly and in accordance with common sense 
ideas we should preserve mental poise and balance. The 
mentality creates, prompts and actuates all of our voluntary 
activities, and there is only one way to slow down or speed 
up one or more of our mental functions; and that is by 
increasing and upbuilding a desire for right doing. Doing 
right in all things is the crux of a perfect life. We may not 
be able to train ourselves to that high degree of excellence, 



122 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

but the effort should be made, and in response to that effort 
our burden of woes, troubles, mental defects and other de- 
ficiencies will be correspondingly lessened. 

The mentality is a cellular organ susceptible to develop- 
ment, cultivation and upbuilding almost to a degree of per- 
fection. That state of practical culture does not result 
entirely from the acquirement of an education, nor does 
it depend upon the attainment of a religious training, al- 
though both of these adjuncts to a worthy life are desirable. 
The one important, indispensable virtue needed above every- 
thing else to make us happy and respected is an ability to do 
right in thought and deed. That ability is within the reach 
of every person endowed with an ordinary mind. It will 
be created by a strict and rigid system of mental training 
brought about by studious, persistent mental effort. We cul- 
tivate and develop for our personal benefit almost every- 
thing in earthly creation, except our own mentalities. We 
try to upbuild these dispensers of our welfare by educa- 
tional and religious methods, but that way of causing our 
right doing lacks vigor and strength, and does not always 
effect its purpose. We need more practical thought, and a 
better system of creating mental and physical energy. Strong, 
active minds will inspire practical thoughts and deeds when 
actuated by a desire for right doing. We should create 
that desire by sincere prayerful endeavor. It will give us 
strength to do right in all of our undertakings. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 123 



PROPOSITION NUMBER TWENTY-FIVE 

THAT THERE IS NO LOGICAL REASON WHY MAN SHOULD BE 

BAPTIZED OR SUBJECT HIMSELF TO ANY FORM OF 

CHURCH CEREMONY, OR OTHER MEANS OF 

SUBSCRIBING TO ARTICLES OF 

FAITH, BEFORE HE WILL 

BE ENTITLED TO 

SALVATION 

MAN is his own guardian angel. No other mortal could 
possibly control his endeavors to be saved. No mortal 
holds the keys to heaven, or has control over the way 
to reach that blissful existence. The ceremony of baptism 
will not purify a mentality, and it must be common knowl- 
edge that signing articles of faith, submitting to ritual cer- 
emonies, or having prayers mumbled over us, will not add 
a farthing to the value of our mental record. Going to 
church is a commendable act, not because it will be the 
saving clause of our life's history, for it will not. It posi- 
tively will not be accepted as evidence that we are worthy 
of salvation. Joining a church, or any other religious de- 
nomination or sect, is like becoming a member of a social 
club, so far as the act itself is concerned. There is this 
difference. Joining a church will afford better opportunities 
to train the mentality for right doing. 

To explain the subject of eternal salvation more clearly, 
it will be necessary to frequently refer to the importance 
of understanding what brain cell control means to a men- 
tality. The brain organism is the seat of all mental en- 
deavor, the vital center of human life, the propagator of 
every human thought, act, deed or impulse. Mental effort 
is the inciting agent that prompts our thoughts and other 
mental endeavors. It causes us to do right, or to do wrong. 
It brings either happiness, sorrow, emotion or other mental 
activities to upbuild or destroy our hopes and ambitions. 



124 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

When the mentality is active and vigorous, mental effort 
will keep our bodily functions in good condition, and aid 
in their restoration to health when necessary. But mental 
effort is only an agent. Its master is the influence that con- 
trols the mentality. That influence is created by brain cellu- 
lar development. That development is brought about by 
our mental training, which begins with the cradle and ends 
with the grave. 

Mental effort prompts thoughts, desires, impulses, emo- 
tions, acts or deeds, in accordance with the development 
created by our mental training. If we have done wrong, 
and continue our wrong doing, there will be a correspond- 
ing brain cellular development. If our thoughts and deeds 
for wrong doing overbalance in number and intensity our 
thoughts and deeds for right doing, the influence thus 
created will dominate the mentality, and cause us to become 
evil and wicked. To overcome that very undesirable, domi- 
nating mental influence, we must develop brain cells for 
right doing. The method of regenerating the mentality re- 
quires mental effort of an extraordinary nature. The effort 
must be made in direct conflict with the dominating mental 
control. The mental forces for right doing must be mastered 
by supreme effort and hold together until sufficient brain 
cellular influence may be developed to control the mentality 
for right doing. Fortunately for every human being, there 
always have been enough good thoughts and deeds in life 
to have developed brain cellular influence for right doing 
to a certain degree. That influence when called into use 
will prompt mental effort to battle down the control for 
wrong doing, if supported by the desires and aspirations of 
the person seeking regeneration. 

The reformation of an evil-minded person from wrong 
to right doing is a physical process, confined absolutely to 
the individual to be reformed. No mortal except the per- 
son, himself, could make the change. It is a physical im- 
possibility. Whatever traits for wrong doing we possess, 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 125 

not inherited, become fixtures in the cellular development 
through the use of the senses. As previously explained, the 
mentality is a physical organism in which myriads of brain 
or nerve cells are located. Certain centers of these cells 
are actuated and controlled by the five senses, touch, taste, 
sight, smell, and hearing. Every kind of knowledge and 
information concerning human and worldly affairs is ac- 
quired through these sources. Nature has sealed the men- 
tality in such a way, by means of its peculiar processes, 
that one person knows nothing about the mental affairs of 
another, unless the person is willing to communicate the 
information. Only the person interested knows what is in 
his mind. s 

There could be no such thing as an ability to help man 
to salvation, except by advice, example and encouragement. 
Man was never endowed with power to change a fellow 
mortal's mentality. The tendencies for wrong doing are 
physical, mental fixtures in the form of a brain cellular de- 
velopment. That development of the mentality cannot be 
actuated or changed except by a mental effort of the person 
possessing it. The person desirous of reformation must 
comply with nature's laws, or keep on doing wrong. He 
may derive comfort from ceremonies to drive evil spirits 
out of his life, but they are there to stay, unless the person 
is willing to do what every human has had to do to regen- 
erate his mentality. 



126 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER TWENTY-SIX 

STIRRING UP THE EMOTIONS TO RECRUIT CHURCH MEMBERS 

IS NOT ADVISABLE. SUCH METHODS OF INDUCING PEOPLE 

TO REFORM THEIR SINFUL WAYS SHOULD NOT BE 

SANCTIONED BY RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS 

THE well known injurious effect of strongly developed 
emotions on the mind of a nervous person should be 
convincing proof that emotional religion is not advis- 
able as a reformative agent. It is true that stirring up the 
emotions at a religious meeting is an effective method of 
recruiting church members, but as a rule people who shed 
tears and fall to their knees whenever they hear a preacher 
shout hallelujah are not safe and reliable converts. Excit- 
ing the emotions for religious purposes is like painting a 
house to hide the weather stains. Beneath the surface of 
sanctity there will still remain the thought and desire for 
wrong doing. Emotions are mental impressions, instinctive 
impulses. They are manifestations created by the five 
senses, and are of a physical nature. They are not mental 
activities in a true sense, although they may be sufficiently 
developed to become nervous diseases. 

All vertebrate animals, including man, are subject to 
emotional excitement. The five senses, touch, taste, sight, 
smell and hearing, incite rage, fear, awe, affection, joy, 
tenderness, repulsion and similar sensations in animals as 
well as in mankind. These sensations are the promptings 
of instinct and do not belong to that part of the mentality 
controlled by the intellect. Man, because of his highly de- 
veloped nervous system, is more temperamental than other 
vertebrates, and is subject to emotional sensations in a 
greater and more effective degree. Especially is this true of 
people whose religious training has caused them to regard 
religion as a spiritual acquirement, separate and distinct 
from the ordinary affairs of an earthly existence. The more 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 127 

nervous and hysterical a person may be, the greater will be 
his inclination to see and hear things. There is only a step 
between emotional awe evoked by a religious ceremony and 
downright religious frenzy. Both are emotions incited by 
an instinctively nervous temperament. Emotions may also 
be aroused by the imagination. But they never result from 
careful thought and studious effort to store the mind with 
knowledge. 

Both instinct and emotions are creations of impulse and 
are destructive to peace and comfort when developed into 
a controlling mental influence. Nervous, emotional people 
acquire the habit of seeing ghosts and spirits, others fancy 
that they are afflicted with chronic diseases, and many ap- 
parently well informed persons believe that they are con- 
trolled by supernatural influences. Such mental aberrations 
should be overcome and banished from the mind. They 
do not indicate perfect sanity, and if allowed to grow in 
strength and influence they will unbalance the mind and 
cause dementia. A religious belief that advocates emotional 
excitement to induce the conversion of unbelievers will 
fail in its purpose. Emotion will not, cannot permanently 
change the trend of mental activities. It may hold tenden- 
cies for wrong doing in restraint while the excitement pre- 
vails, but emotion is not a sensation that creates cellular 
activities and could not be made a regenerative agent. There 
is only one effective way to regenerate a mentality, and that 
method is fully explained elsewhere in this volume. 

The diversity of belief in present-day religions is caused 
by emotions incited by varied ceremonies and other means 
of arousing instinctive reformation. We enter a church 
with a feeling of awe because the premises are dedicated 
to the worship of a personal God, who is supposed to watch 
over our welfare. The music, services, ceremonies and 
other rites impress us with the importance of yielding 
submissively to a mysterious influence which impels us to 
feel that God is near. That same devout sensation is 



128 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

aroused when in the presence of the dead, and there is 
an instinctive feeling that possibly the spirit of the de- 
parted may be hovering over us. These emotions are im- 
pulsive and are created by the solemnity of the occasion. 
Similar sensations may be aroused by other circumstances 
and conditions. A properly conducted spiritual seance in- 
cites creepy feelings. A dark path through lonely woods, 
or the passing of a graveyard at night, will send chills speed- 
ing up the spinal column. But these sensations are transi- 
tory. They are not mental creations, and are not to be 
associated with mental activities. 

Successful business and professional men do not allow 
an emotional nature to guide and control their affairs. It 
requires good, practical common sense to achieve success 
in any reasonable undertaking. No great industrial or other 
enterprise was ever safely guided through its early troubles 
by emotional thought or the impulses of instinct. Emotion 
is not practical and instinct has no upbuilding power, or 
animal life would now be stepping in the footsteps of man. 
For that reason we should not adopt emotional religion 
and its fallacies of superstition, misbelief and tradition 
as a guide in our search for immortality. It will require 
a mind purged of misbelief and unrealities to merit the 
favor of the Great Creator. Such a mentality cannot be 
purified by emotional conversion. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 129 



PROPOSITION NUMBER TWENTY-SEVEN 

THAT GOD, NOT THE PERSONAL GOD WE WORSHIP, BUT THE 

REAL GOD OF THE UNIVERSE, WILL GUIDE, CONTROL AND 

PROTECT US THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF THE GERM 

OF LIFE WITH WHICH MANKIND IS ENDOWED 

THE existence of a personal God should not be con- 
sidered when contemplating the abandonment of 
wrong doing. Preparation during mortal life for an 
immortal transcendency should not include thoughts or 
expectations of supernatural guidance. Man was en- 
dowed with a super-mentality for the purpose of upbuilding 
both himself and the world, and that super-intellect is to 
be his guiding influence, at all times and under all circum- 
stances. Look at this fact from the standpoint of the exis- 
tence of a personal God. We are given to understand that 
God controls His creations in the same way that a kind 
father of a family should govern and upbuild the welfare 
of those dependent on him. God is our heavenly Father, 
and He is supposed to overlook and control our conduct, 
and to answer our prayers when we beseech His guidance, 
influence and mercy. God, the personal God, also is ex- 
pected to prevent warfare between His mortal offspring, 
and to alleviate public distress and cause prosperity, good 
will and happiness to prevail throughout His earthly king- 
dom. Man is the alleged chosen creation of the personal 
God we worship, and we are told that we were created 
after His own image. The entire human family is said 
to be composed of God's children. We are further informed 
of the wonderful majesty and power of the personal God, 
and that His justice and mercy are unlimited when be- 
stowed for the welfare of mankind. This and other relig- 
ious teachings have caused us to believe in the existence of 
a personal God. But there has been no actual proof shown 



130 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

to substantiate these statements. Biblical tradition could 
not be accepted as satisfactory evidence, because the bible 
is the work of man. There are no miracles in this modern 
age to convince us that a personal God is ever present with 
us, and our hope of His divine guidance is evidently without 
foundation. 

There are many good, worthy people, believers in a per- 
sonal God, who are suffering from distress in its varied 
forms throughout civilization and who are patiently wait- 
ing relief in answer to their prayers. This relief never 
comes from God, the divine mind, or any other super- 
natural source. Instances may be found in any community 
where prayers to God are said to have revived and caused 
people to regain health and vigor who were afflicted with 
what seemed to be a fatal illness. But no credit is given 
to the resuscitating ability of the sick persons, nor is any- 
thing said about the countless victims of similar forms of 
illness, who die regardless of repeated prayers and peti- 
tions speeded heavenward for their return to health. Recall 
the ruthless massacres of christians in foreign lands, be- 
cause they believed in a personal God. Turn back to the 
religious wars, where all interested were children of God, 
and note the uninterrupted slaughter that prevailed until 
one side or the other gave up the fight from exhaustion. 
There was then no divine interposition to save the lives 
of those who worshipped a personal God. Consult your 
own thoughts for proof of the existence of a personal God, 
such as we worship. There is no such proof, notwithstand- 
ing your own efforts and desires to supply it. There is a 
God, a Sublime Creator. A God to whom we, and all 
else in creation, owe our existence. But He does not per- 
sonally overlook our welfare. He does not spread a divine 
mind throughout the world for the benefit of mediums, 
healers and their ilk, nor does He send forth a supernatural 
influence to guide our conduct and protect us from danger. 

God is with us personally at all times during our earthly 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 131 

career — not as a personal God, in accordance with the 
|! popular belief, but as the supreme principle of our mental 
i and physical being, provided we make good use of that God- 
j like prerogative. The germ of mortal life, with which man 
I was endowed at the beginning, included the bestowal of a 
! super-intellect which no other earthly creation possesses. 
i That germ is God-like in its nature, inasmuch as it has 
i given mankind control of the world and all of its belongings. 
It establishes the line of demarcation between man and 
other animal life, and endows us with an intellectual ability 
not found elsewhere in animate existence. Unfortunately 
the endowment, which was bestowed on mankind to be 
used for his own good purposes and for the welfare of the 
world, is frequently perverted and made the cause of great 
misfortune and distress. It is this perversion of man's 
intellect that creates war and its woes, poverty and its dis- 
tress, ignorance and its vices, and other forms of evil that 
bring about so much suffering, contention and trouble. 
These conditions could not exist if a personal God con- 
trolled and influenced our activities, because He would 
give us relief. That evident fact should preclude and pro- 
hibit the belief in a personal God, and prevent the exis- 
tence of any religion, fad or semi-religious fallacy that 
advocates such a misrepresentation. 

It is not evidence of good sense to continue the worship 
of a personal God who does not respond to our invoca- 
tions. The same prayerful effort for the development of 
the intellect would meet with a response and give us 
unbounded happiness and prosperity. Prayer for right 
doing, if persistent, fervent and honest, will not only cause 
us to do right, but will upbuild the mind and stimulate 
greater mental and physical vigor. The mentality is the 
seat, the center of mental and physical energy. From that 
source all of our activities originate. We do right or wrong 
in accordance with our mental development. If that devel- 
opment is for right doing we will make good use of the 



132 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

germ of life with which the God of the universe endowed 
us. He then will be with us constantly and will guide 
our thoughts and actions. We also will become worthy 
of a transcendency to immortality. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 133 



PROPOSITION NUMBER TWENTY-EIGHT 

THAT MAN SHOULD ENDEAVOR TO HASTEN THE PROCESS OF 

DEVELOPING HIS MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH AND 

VIGOR, BY ABANDONING THE USE OF NARCOTICS, STRONG 

DRINK, TOBACCO AND OTHER DELETERIENTS. HE 

SHOULD BEAR IN MIND THAT BOTH MENTAL AND 

BODILY HEALTH MAY BE DERIVED FROM LIFE, 

OR THAT A LACK OF THAT INFLUENCE MAY 

PROVE TO BE HIS UNDOING 

LIFE either invigorates and strengthens both mind 
and body, or it will destroy them by assisting detri- 
mental influences to cause disease and decadence. 
That may seem like a paradoxical statement, but it is true. 
We must regard life as our Creator, the God we worship, 
the Influence to which we offer our prayers. We know of 
no other God, or no other Influence that watches over and 
controls our existence. When we call upon life to guide 
our prayers and show us what to do, there is an immediate 
response by upbuilding encouraging thought and impulse. 
Thought and impulse prompt deeds. When we indulge in 
narcotics, our minds are stupefied and our physical func- 
tions lack vigor. Life then is unable to come to our assist- 
ance. When we take stimulants, life aids us in losing 
control of our mentalities, and in that way hastens our 
undoing. Continued use of narcotics, tobacco and strong 
drink will impair both mental and physical health, and in 
time disqualify us for either reasonable enjoyment or busi- 
ness pursuits. We should have strong, vigorous minds and 
bodies to meet and successfully combat the vicissitudes 
of mortal existence, and for that reason should beware the 
use of narcotics and stimulants. 

It is difficult for us to discontinue the use of narcotics, 
or to stop taking stimulants after the habit has been ac- 



134 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

quired. The mentality demands either the drug that quiets 
its activities, or the stimulant that starts them going at a 
more rapid pace. It must be apparent that either of these 
habits will bring on mental and physical weakness, if long 
continued. The physical organs rely upon the mentality for 
vigor to cause them to function. Should that mental energy 
be lacking, disease or weakness of the physical organs 
must follow. When we think or say that we will not stop 
the use of drink, tobacco or drugs because we are not 
afraid of them, we then confess that the habit has become 
established. When we try to stop the habit and fail, that 
is an indication that sometime we will try again and per- 
haps be successful. 

It is pitiful to see a strong man become a slave to habit, 
especially a habit that will eventually destroy his manhood, 
and cause him to be a mental and physical wreck in his 
later years, when he most needs health and vigor. But that 
is the invariable, inevitable end of all victims of bad habits. 
There could be no other end. We could not succeed in any 
walk of life without strong mentalities. If we drug these 
founts of our learning and well doing, or if we over- 
stimulate their activities, the ability to guide us successfully 
in our undertakings must necessarily fail. Life is kind 
to us, but it cannot actuate a half dead mentality, when its 
vigor has been sapped by too much stimulation, nor can 
life energize a mentality that has been drugged to ever- 
lasting stupidity. Those are the sure results of the excessive 
use of narcotics, strong drink, tobacco and similar harm- 
ful indulgences. 

There is another way to consider the importance of pre- 
serving our mentalities, although it does not, as a rule, ex- 
ert an influence over the man who likes to drink, smoke 
and have a good time generally. Such men cannot expect 
future salvation and continue their efforts to destroy them- 
selves. Since man has had a history, it has always been 
his belief that there was a future reward for right doing. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 135 

We hold to that belief now, although we have no certain 
knowledge of what that reward will be. Most of us think 
that it will be immortality. Whatever the reward for right 
living may be, it must result from the record established 
by our mentalities. The mentality is the man. The deeds 
that our mental organism has prompted must stand as our 
life record, for right or wrong doing. 

What will be the fate of the man with a mentality that 
has influenced the destruction of itself by the use of strong 
drink, or any other habit capable of impairing the health 
and vigor of both the mentality and the man? That is a 
good, sober query for the man of bad habits to answer. 
When it can be satisfactorily proven that the mentality is 
not the man, shorn of his bodily functions ; when the fact 
can be established that a man may do things without the 
promptings of his mentality; when man himself may 
know through the medium of his mentality that his heart 
will beat one time after his mentality has been paralyzed, 
or stricken with death, then and then only will we believe 
that the record of man's mentality will not be used to judge 
his worthiness or unworthiness for immortality. 



136 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER TWENTY-NINE 

THAT CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS, SECTS AND CULTS SHOULD 

ADVOCATE PRACTICAL THOUGHT, AS A MEANS 

OF PROMOTING HUMAN WELFARE 

SERMONS, lectures and literature based on traditional 
lore are not proper food for the public mind. Man 
has lived many years since bible and scriptural days, 
and is now traveling on railroad trains, automobiles, aero- 
planes and other means of rapid transit. He is not in 
sympathy with religious ideas propounded two or more 
thousand years ago. He wants, and must have a religion, 
or a belief in future salvation, that is based on fact, and 
not on guess-work, superstition and tradition. Talk to a 
practical man about the marvels of the bible, and he will 
look at the telephone and smile. Think of the miracles 
alleged to have been performed by Christ and others of 
the miracle age, and, if practical, your mind will refer to 
wireless telegraphy, the phonograph, or others of the mar- 
velous modern inventions. We are not only living in an 
age of wonders, but these practical man-miracles are com- 
ing thicker and faster than ever before. They are even 
being used to slaughter humanity. 

Compare the difference between man's condition and 
methods of living in the days of Christ with his present 
improved and comfortable existence. Refer to man's al- 
most total lack of care during illness, or when injured, or 
disqualified for work for any reason, during the age in 
which bible history was written, and then look at our hos- 
pitals, the efficiency of therapeutics and surgery, and other 
modern treatment of people in mental or physical distress. 
Then go and hear a sermon, or a talk on methods of sal- 
vation, and you will be reminded of the days when man 
travelled on foot, ate and drank very much like a savage 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 137 

being, was cast out when demented, and was nailed to a 
cross for capital punishment. There has been no marked 
improvement in church methods of reforming sinners. It 
is true that man's genius has added other means of creat- 
ing an interest in divine worship by inventing new and bet- 
ter musical instruments to be used in church music. Chris- 
tian science, also, has added another feature to the scrip- 
tural admonitions handed down by the Redeemer, in which 
Christ's supposed method of healing by means of the di- 
vine mind is its chief argument. Otherwise, we must either 
go to heaven or hell, in accordance with these semi-civilized 
religious ideas. 

According to man's best modern, practical information, 
there is no proof of either heaven or hell. If there is a 
heaven, there should also be a hell. God would not send a 
good person to heaven, as a reward for right living, and 
let the wicked man go scot free. That would not be dis- 
pensing justice. But there must be a method by which 
man may work out his own salvation, just as he would 
acquire knowledge, and that is by the use of his mentality. 
Go over the reasons why the Creator endowed man with a 
superior mentality, once more. All vertebrate animals 
possess the five senses, touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing, 
and exist by their use. Man, as a vertebrate, also was en- 
dowed with these senses, and in addition to them he was 
given a sixth, or super-sense, which enables him to think, 
invent and perfect useful articles, and to prepare himself 
for immortality. 

Preparing for immortality, then, is like learning arith- 
metic, or acquiring knowledge of any kind. It is like in- 
venting useful articles, and is a mental operation. Man, in 
the day of Christ, was not as well developed mentally as 
he is now. He could not think as clearly, and his ideas of 
religious justice and mercy were crude and rudimentary. 
Man now seeks a practical way of reaching immortality, 
without resorting to a belief in the supernatural. He de- 



138 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

sires to prepare himself for that blessing by a means that 
will conform to his present good common-sense methods 
of doing things. Man wants to discard unnecessary ad- 
juncts to religious conversion, and get down to plain, ordi- 
nary facts. That method of reaching salvation must be by 
mental development. How that development may be most 
successfully accomplished is what man wants to know. 






, 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 139 



PROPOSITION NUMBER THIRTY 

THAT PRAYING FOR THE WELFARE OF THOSE WE LOVE, OR FOR 
PEOPLE IN DISTRESS AND IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE, IS A 
BEAUTIFUL, COMMENDABLE CUSTOM THAT DESERVES TO 
BE PERPETUATED. BUT IT IS LIKE PRAYING FOR RAIN, 
ABUNDANT HARVEST, WEALTH, HONORS, OR ANY- 
THING ELSE OUTSIDE OF OUR OWN INDIVIDUAL 
ACTIVITIES. THE PRAYERS WILL NOT 
BE ANSWERED 

NATURE has barred us from assisting fellow mortals 
except by our own individual efforts. Our supplica- 
tions for public welfare, or for the relief and well 
doing of others, cannot be answered, because there is no 
personal God to whom we may address our appeals. Were 
there such a God, our prayers would not be necessary. A 
good, just, merciful personal God would not allow His 
children to suffer, or require His protection. It would not 
be possible for a personal God, capable of creating the uni- 
verse, and a world like ours, to be blind and deaf to the 
appeals of a suffering people. We are told to ask and we 
shall receive. That is not comforting advice when a world 
is deluged with blood, and there are broken hearts and sor- 
row in almost every household. A merciful personal God, 
such as we read about in the bible and other religious litera- 
ture, would not wait until the house burned down before He 
began to shower water to quench the fire. 

It should not be discouraging to learn that our prayers 
for the welfare of others are not heard and answered. 
Public prayerful entreaties for the benefit of our fellow 
kind arouse human sympathy and support for them, and in 
that way bring to them needed relief. Supplications for 
the welfare of loved ones, when we know of their being 
offered, increase our affection for them and incite us to 



140 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

respond to loving efforts to aid them. Prayerful supplica- 
tions for any good purpose create and increase desires in 
the mind of the supplicant for well doing, and in that way 
are effective. Were we not so confiding, sympathetic and 
hopeful, our confidence in God's power to assist us would 
have long since have been shaken. Think of the countless, 
limitless numbers of prayers each hour and day that are 
speeded heavenward for relief from our numerous troubles. 
Not one of them is answered by either the personal God 
or the great Redeemer. Ask your own mentality for reliable 
proof of such divine succor. There may have been an 
occasional coincidence, but there is no valid proof of the 
relief by divine assistance. 

There have been instances when people prayed for ma- 
terial benefits and apparently had their prayers answered. 
But the benefits were not bestowed either by divine influence 
or by direct command or inspiration. The prayerful appeals 
aroused the mental activities of the supplicants, and caused 
them to put forth vigorous personal efforts to secure the 
object of their desires. Prayers arouse mental efforts and 
assist us in gaining strength and opportunity for the accom- 
plishment of laudable undertakings. 

Prayers for public relief or material welfare could not 
be directly effective, because the relief or welfare must 
result from human efforts. We cannot pray a house into 
existence, or a loaf of bread into an oven. We cannot pray 
life into a dying friend, or stop a river from overflowing 
its banks. God does not voluntarily do these things, and 
we must not expect our prayers to act as a command. We 
may by individual endeavor speed up nature's methods, in 
such fields of activity as we control, and improve her 
products to a remarkable extent. But we cannot change 
the coming of the seasons, or alter the furies or tranquilities 
of the elements. We could not stop the earth from travers- 
ing space, or prevent the stars from twinkling, by prayer. 
It would be as easy to do these things by praying for them 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 141 

as it would be to increase the physical comforts of a fellow 
being by prayer alone. 

Prayer has been the lever that has uplifted mankind 
from a brutish state to our present intellectual condition, 
but this great moral development was accomplished by 
mental, individual efforts, incited by prayer. Church 
prayers, ceremonies, rituals and associations have done much 
to promote this moral and mental human welfare, but their 
assistance was derived by inspiring man to pray for him- 
self, and not by any direct control of God's influence. 

God does not create church organizations, or influence 
or govern them in any way. Were that not so, there would 
be only one church and one form of worship, and that 
would be God's church and God's method of worship. It 
must be apparent to people who give the question careful 
thought, that the only requirement essential to salvation is 
a mentality that will not prompt wrong doing. Wickedness, 
in any form, is a destructive agent. It either works havoc 
to the welfare and happiness of others, or impairs the 
mental and physical health of the wrong-doing person. 
We are told that to be saved, and rewarded with eternal 
life, we must become worthy. There is no way to render 
us worthy except by regenerating our mentalities. Nothing 
else causes us to do wrong. The mentality influences our 
thoughts and deeds for wrong doing. There is no other 
cause. We could not steal a coin or take a drink without 
mental effort. If we are to be reformed it must be by 
changing our mental control. If the mentality has been in- 
fluencing us to do wrong, we must seek another and better 
influence. Prayer will upbuild that influence and change 
our mental control. It can be done in no other way than 
by individual mental effort. We must pray for our own 
welfare. Regeneration may only be accomplished by the 
development of a more desirable brain cellular control. 



142 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER THIRTY-ONE 

THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL VERY GOOD REASONS WHY MODERN 

PEOPLE DO NOT BECOME ENTHUSIASTIC CONVERTS TO THE 

CHRISTIAN AND OTHER RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS 

THERE is no actual knowledge of the existence of a 
personal God, such as many people worship, although 
there could be no possible denial of the wonderful 
creations of a Supreme Deity. We are each and all of us 
evidences of His handiwork, and our earthly possessions, 
including this world, are the results of His beneficence. It 
is not the doubt of a Divine Influence, or Creator, that 
causes many persons to be skeptical and lose faith in the 
present religious beliefs. It is the lack of information con- 
cerning the existence of a personal God, and the positive 
knowledge that we are not guided, controlled, and made 
happy and contented through the medium of His influence, 
that creates unbelievers. 

The proof of the cause of this growing unbelief may be 
found in the history of church organizations, and in their 
present dissensions, differences and lack of cohesion in 
spreading their doctrines for universal welfare. Each and 
every one of the great religious organizations owes its ex- 
istence to an early career of violence and bloodshed. They 
became wealthy, powerful and influential through years of 
warfare and countless deeds of rapine, ruin, lust, slaughter, 
slander, death and destruction. In this day, church organi- 
zations are fighting each other by peaceful methods. Money 
is used instead of weapons, to carry on the work of pros- 
elytism. The christian churches are sending missionaries 
to China, India and other oriental countries to convert 
mohammedans, brahmists, buddhists, confucianists, shinto- 
ists and other oriental religionists. These people are desig- 
nated as infidels by followers of the christian faith, and 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 143 

for that reason are not to be permitted to seek salvation 
in their own way. 

There are also dissensions among the christian church 
organizations, and a number of them do not recognize each 
other as true worshippers of Christ. All of the various 
organizations employ different rituals, forms of ceremony 
and articles of faith, although each of them accepts Christ, 
the Son of God, as the Redeemer, to whom their prayerful 
supplications should be addressed. It is not difficult for an 
applicant for church membership to find an open door in a 
christian church, but it would not be an easy matter for 
him to secure admission into some of the churches, were 
he a vagabond and really needed reformation. 

Church dissensions and differences do not represent the 
most important reason why there are so many unbelievers 
and backsliders among the world's vast population. There 
are enough various religious beliefs to satisfy the demands 
of any person, regardless of nationality or grade of intel- 
lectual development. There is a religion for everybody, 
from the idol worshipper up to the latest type of money 
idolator. But the person who cannot be caught in the net- 
work of world-wide religion, notwithstanding the most 
strenuous efforts, is the red-blooded man or woman who 
exists on exhilerative pleasure. These peculiar people enjoy 
a good time, where their desires, appetites and animal pro- 
pensities may be gratified, and their pleasures may be al- 
lowed to run to the limit. They are usually vigorous in 
health and physical activity, and they delight in every sensa- 
tion and emotion that speeds up the red blood in their veins, 
and causes it to thrill them with an undefinable exultation. 
To such people God is almost too infinitesimal to attract 
attention. They do not usually think of Him, until lustful 
and other desires have sapped their energies, ruined their 
health, and practically turned the red blood into water. 
Then their plaints go forth for salvation. 

The conversion of man from an animal to a true type 



144 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

of manhood has been slow and difficult. Had the effort been 
controlled by supernatural power, it possibly might have 
been more successful, but it was projected, guided and con- 
trolled by man-power, by man's upgrowing mentality, and 
in no other way. There would have been no religious wars, 
no dissensions and differences in religious beliefs, no back- 
sliders, unbelievers and unworthy people, had the develop- 
ment of man been controlled by divine influence. The very 
fact that man pictures God as an image of himself, and as 
a ruler seated on a heavenly throne, sorting out the good 
from the bad, should be convincing evidence that man is 
mistaken, and that the churches are wrong in supporting 
such a ridiculous interpretation of a Great Creator's duties. 
Church preaching, teaching and other methods of inculcat- 
ing religious doctrines and thought need as much reforma- 
tion as do the people whom religious organizations are try- 
ing to proselytize. Men and women, as a rule, need and are 
anxious for salvation, but they also want to see fact, and 
satisfactory results. A convert cannot be purchased by an 
alleged promise of heavenly grace, any quicker than a piece 
of property could be sold to him without giving him a title. 
The older the world grows and the more mankind becomes 
experienced, the greater is the need of fact, reliable infor- 
mation, and sound argument in religious, as well as in bus- 
iness activitites. Some people believe in praying before the 
pictures of saints for certain earthly rewards; others look 
upon such a practice as image worship. Other people expect 
God to look down on them and smile, whenever they throw a 
penny into a blind beggar's cup. Charitable people help the 
unfortunate and feel happier for having done so. It's the 
way we look at things that makes the difference. Wor- 
shipping God, saints, or idols will not bring earthly reward. 
When we pray for strength to do right, to think right and 
to see right, we will be benefited, because a desire for right 
doing will be developed and strengthened. It's the way 
we pray that causes us to become better men and women. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 145 



PROPOSITION NUMBER THIRTY-TWO 

THAT THE USE OF GOOD COMMON SENSE IS ESSENTIAL TO 
SUCCESS IN ALL UNDERTAKINGS, AND AS THAT 
ATTRIBUTE IS A CREATION OF MENTAL TRAIN- 
ING, STRENUOUS EFFORTS SHOULD BE 
MADE TO SECURE ITS DEVELOPMENT 

AN ability to make use of good common sense is 
invaluable, when its worth is considered as a means 
of promoting personal and public welfare. The story 
of what man might do successfully were his activities con- 
trolled by common sense, would fill many books with in- 
teresting reading. What he could not accomplish without 
the aid of common sense, would keep all of the printing 
presses of the country busy, were the information pub- 
lished. It is a waste of time to discuss what may be done 
through the use of common sense. We all feel the need 
of it, but most of us find that the fount that supplies it, 
the mentality, has run dry whenever a demand is made 
for its use. 

Common sense, or the mental influence that causes us 
to exercise good judgment, is a product of mental training. 
It is within the reach of all who seek it diligently, and who 
are willing to practice self-denial until its development is 
assured. Lavish, extravagant methods of living, high-toned 
ambitions for social honors, and showy garments should be 
tabooed when learning the use of common sense. It is al- 
ways advisable to associate with reputable people, and 
to dress neatly, and stylishly, when an income will warrant 
it. Common sense approves of such methods. But when it 
comes to squandering the products of gold mines, oil wells 
and other big income-producers for the sake of gilding 
over an unsavory reputation, common sense will instantly 
rebel. Common sense is a good, square fighter. It abhors 



146 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

aristocracy and frowns at snobbishness and people who 
sneer at the lower classes. Common sense prompts good 
judgment in causing everything in existence to thrive and 
create prosperity. It fills our pockets with money, our 
fields and storehouses with plenty, our mills and factories 
with orders and busy working people, our stores and busi- 
ness houses with customers, our homes with happy families, 
and everything else with the comforts and joys of the full- 
ness of life, except our jails and courts of justice. One 
ounce of common sense is worth more to humanity than all 
of the world's treasures. 

Common sense is a mental attribute, and must be ac- 
quired by the same means employed to upbuild right doing. 
The task will prove to be strenuous and wearisome, and 
common sense must be used to fix itself in a mentality. 
The process of acquiring common sense and other worthy 
attainments has been described, several times, in this 
volume. Vigorous mental effort must be used to put down 
and overcome influences that prevent common sense from 
asserting itself as a dominating mental factor. That effort 
means the development of brain cells to control the men- 
tality for right doing. The use of common sense is noth- 
ing more or less than right doing. If good judgment is 
used in all of our activities, that is common sense, doing 
right. Prayers for right doing create and strengthen a 
desire to do right. They develop brain cells for that pur- 
pose. They establish and keep active mental control for 
right doing, and by means of that control we are enabled 
to use common sense. 

Through the use of common sense, we shall be able to 
discriminate between the good and bad methods of religious 
conversion. That means much to those who look with hope 
ful eyes toward immortality. We are told that none but 
the worthy will be exalted. Common sense approves that 
assertion. Fitness for immortality should govern the selec- 
tion. But what condition will be considered worthy? Shall 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 147 

the candidates be rendered fit by religious ceremonies and 
church membership, or shall it be from mental purity? If 
by church membership, to what religion and church must 
they belong? Common sense would decide against church 
membership and ceremony. It would be impossible to 
whitewash sin and cause it to pass eternal judgment. It 
also would be an injustice to select one church and religion 
from many similar organizations and give it the keys to 
heaven. Mental purity, a mentality controlled by cellular 
influence for right doing, must render us worthy of im- 
mortality. Common sense so decides. Also, that man must 
fit himself for the final judgment by his own individual 
mental efforts. 



148 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER THIRTY-THREE 

THAT MAN SPENDS TOO MUCH OF HIS TIME IN WASTING 

MENTAL EFFORT IN FREAKS OF IMAGINATION, OR WHEN 

INDULGING HABITS THAT RESULT IN MENTAL INJURY 

WE worry about fancied troubles, or about contin- 
gencies that may never occur. It is bad enough to 
be compelled to face real difficulties or dangers 
when they come, and for that reason we should preserve 
our mental poise and strength until our efforts are needed. 
Borrowing trouble is like dealing with a pawn shop. The 
more trouble we borrow the less ability we will have to 
meet emergencies. Many people have died from the habit 
of borrowing trouble, and in most cases their friends have 
had to pay the undertaker. Borrowing trouble is a habit 
acquired through that freak of mental wandering, the im- 
agination. Death would be a welcome relief to the hypo- 
chondriac who is always about to die from fancied disease. 
The man who is in debt will not pay his creditor by worry- 
ing about it. The manager of a business enterprise that 
is losing money will not devise means to stop the loss by 
wringing his hands, in a state of frenzy. The girl who 
has had a tiff with her lover will not win him back by 
crying her eyes out in hopeless despair. There is always 
hope to buoy up our energies, and incite us to greater 
efforts in times of distress, if we do not frustrate it by 
worry. Ninety times out of a hundred we worry about 
nothing. Our troubles are fancied, but the injurious effect 
on our mentalities is real. Brain cells are not steel or 
adamant. Too much and too constant activity in fretting 
over trouble, fancied or real, is like playing a fiddle on one 
string. The nerve or brain cells actuated by worry will be- 
come uncontrollable. That means either a nervous break- 
down, or a sanitorium for the half crazed person. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 149 

The remedy for worry, or any other bad habit that has 
become fixed and seemingly implacable, is a change of 
mental control. The worry habit, and other injurious in- 
fluences, are mental developments, brain cellular creations. 
They are mental activities caused by a partial loss of mental 
self-control. They are a mild form of mental break- 
down, which may result in something more serious. In- 
sanity results from a total loss of mental self-control. 
When bad habits control our thoughts and mental and phy- 
sical activities, we are bordering on the verge of madness. 
There is only one cure for such a condition, and that is the 
development and upbuilding of a control to supplant the 
activities that cause our mental distress. The surest and 
most speedy way of changing an objectionable mental con- 
trol, is to go down on our knees and pray for it. Changing 
thought and impulse means mental regeneration. Prayer 
for that purpose is the best panacea. 

Going down on our knees to pray for mental strength to 
overcome bad habits, or influences that cause wrong doing, 
may seem unnecessary to some people. It would not be 
essential, could we submit ourselves, body and soul, to the 
prayerful effort. Under ordinary circumstances that can- 
not be done. The fact that we kneel in submission has its 
influence in causing our supplications to be earnest and 
sincere. We do not, or should not, pray for the purpose of 
uttering words. Such a prayer would be no better than 
singing a song. We pray to create and stimulate a desire 
for right doing. We pray to upbuild a mental control to 
cause us to think differently, act differently and become 
good, sane, right-doing people. Unless better and more 
desirable brain or nerve cells are developed by our prayer- 
ful efforts, there will be no change in the mental control 
that causes worry, bad habits and other wrong doing. Sing- 
ing, reading prayers, or mumbling words are not rapid 
and effective methods of brain cellular development. There 
must be energy, earnestness, devoutness and sincerity in 



150 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

our prayers for strength to overcome our troubles. We 
must give the prayer all the mental strength we can muster, 
if we expect it to be efficacious. It is a question of mental 
effort for mental upbuilding. That means brain cellular 
development to acquire a sane, mental control. Insipid, 
half-hearted prayers will not accomplish that purpose. 






FINDING THE REAL GOD 151 



PROPOSITION NUMBER THIRTY-FOUR 

THAT INDIVIDUAL EFFORT IS NEEDED TO FREE THE WORLD 
FROM ITS MISERY AND DISTRESS. NO MONEY, NO UNIVER- 
SAL CAMPAIGN IS NECESSARY TO BRING ABOUT THAT 
GREAT REFORM. IT MAY BE ACCOMPLISHED BY 
INDIVIDUAL SELF-REGENERATION 

TAKE a community as an example, and cause each 
member of it to cultivate a desire for right doing, 
and to abandon habits and inclinations that are in- 
jurious to self and detrimental to the welfare of the com- 
munity. Could there be such a thing as poverty and suffer- 
ing, where every person is trying to do right and conditions 
are normal? Greed, misdirected ambitions, bad habits, ig- 
norance, desire for wrong doing, and mental dullness are 
the cause of our worldly troubles. Individual effort, rightly 
directed, would quickly overcome these mental afflictions, 
and upbuild happiness and contentment. We should not 
forget that all right and wrong doing results from mental 
conditions. Right doing will emanate from a mentality 
controlled by good influences, and wrong doing is the 
creature of a mentality under evil control. The mentality 
is the source of all thought impulses, acts and deeds, good 
or bad. We will not do wrong if our mentalities are domi- 
nated by a desire to do right. 

Most people think that it is the other fellow who needs 
reformation. They never read their own records until, 
during an illness, they begin to be anxious about what 
might happen. When the doctor has assured them that they 
will not die, this time, the worry is over. A return to health 
and vigor enables them to start out again in worldly activ- 
ities, and they soon lose sight of the devil and his satellites, 
who stared them in the face while they were under the 
doctor's care. It would make a great difference with 



152 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

humanity if every person would try to first reform himself, 
before devoting his time to the welfare of others. Self- 
regeneration, rendered effective universally, would clean 
up every slum, every nest of ignorance and vice, and every 
evidence of war and conquest now in existence. Think what 
a wonderful change self-reformation could create. 

The world would always be beaming with mental sun- 
shine, no matter how many storms the elements might be- 
stow. There would be no bankruptcies, no need for credits 
and no attempts to defraud. The money now spent in vice 
and follies, or to gratify pampered desires, would be used for 
sensible, beneficial purposes. Our schools would be over- 
flowing with scholars eager for learning, and fond parents 
would long for more children to enjoy the world's abun- 
dance. There would be no more family quarrels, no more 
feuds or unjust conditions that cost human life. Our in- 
sane asylums, and others for the poor and homeless, would 
be put out of business, and there would be no dependents 
except those poor in health or otherwise rendered helpless 
by physical infirmities. Even our death reports would cease 
to worry us, for right living, right thinking and right doing 
would cut down the sick list, and greatly prolong life. 

If readers could realize what great benefits might be 
derived from universal self-regeneration, they would or- 
ganize clubs and advocate it in every community where its 
principles could be understood. Self-regeneration means 
the attainment of a sane mental control. It costs nothing 
but mental effort, and is the quickest method of acquiring 
health, comfort, peace of mind and happiness that rests 
within the ability of mankind. Self-control nearly all per- 
sons claim to possess, but a history of their deeds and mis- 
deeds would convince them to the contrary. Self -regenera- 
tion, when realized, would cut out the mistakes of life for 
which the individual was personally responsible, and cause 
him to be a clean, reputable citizen. Self-regeneration may 
be accomplished when the person has fitted himself for right 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 153 

! 

J doing. Try the method explained in this volume. It will 
bring, if persisted in, all the comforts, joy and blessings 
that a sane vigorous mentality is capable of bestowing. 



154 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER THIRTY-FIVE 

THAT THE USE OF THE DIVINE MIND IN CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 
HEALING IS A DELUSION. SUCH AN INFLUENCE PURPORT- 
ING TO COME FROM GOD HAS NO EXISTENCE. THERE IS 
NOT NOW, AND NEVER HAS BEEN, A DIVINE MIND SUB- 
JECT TO THE DEMANDS AND USES OF HUMANITY 

THERE is not now and never has been, nor could there 
possibly be, such a thing as the divine mind designated 
and advocated by Mrs. Eddy and christian science 
healers. Could the divine mind be in existence, it would not 
be especially devoted to science healing, and remain under 
the control of licensed healers. Our definition of the term 
mind is that it is a human, rational faculty, or understand- 
ing, or intellect. God, the Creator, may have a mind fash- 
ioned and used according to Mrs. Eddy's ideas, but no 
human being has ever solved that mystery. God's presence 
and existence may only be known by His creations. He 
has never healed the sick, or bound up the wounds of in- 
jured mortals. He has never rescued the fallen, or brought 
relief to the hearts of the afflicted. God, the Creator, is 
everywhere in the vast and measureless universe, and His 
work may be seen, admired and enjoyed in every living 
and inert earthly creation. But we know nothing of a 
personal God, or the divine mind, or its miraculous healing 
power. 

When considering the ability of God to heal the sick, or 
to alleviate afflictions of any kind, or to banish sin, suffer- 
ing and sorrow, we should remember that He would not 
pass one sufferer by to heal another at the request, or 
prayerful demand, of any mortal. Christian science heal- 
ers claim that they heal disease by absent treatment in the 
same manner Christ healed the centurion's servant, when 
not present with the patient. Christ may have done what 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 155 

God absolutely does not do, but it does not follow that 
christian science healers possess the wonderful power with 
which Christ was endowed. Of one thing we may be sure, 
Christ did not charge a fee for his healing. 

There is no secret or unknown principle employed in 
christian science healing. Nature, stimulated by the mental 
efforts of the patient and assisted by the encouraging advice 
of the healer, does more to bring about a restoration to 
health than medicine could do in some kinds of afflictions. 
Remember that the mentality or mind is the seat of all of 
our troubles. Good health depends largely upon proper 
and effective mental activity. Faith in a treatment, and 
confidence in our own ability to overcome an affliction, 
will in many cases accomplish a successful result. Science 
healers invariably endeavor to inspire that confidence in 
their methods of treating patients. Also the thought that 
there is no such a thing as disease will do much towards 
relieving the mind of its burden of anticipation of greater 
trouble. That is as far as christian science goes toward 
healing disease. The divine mind treatment is a delusion, 
purposely intended to create a favorable impression con- 
cerning this apparently new mental science. God has noth- 
ing to do with it or its method of healing. He could not 
and would not endorse the advertising and use of His name 
and mind for money-making purposes. If God were guiding 
and controlling human affairs, especially those of the af- 
flicted, they would be under better management. 

As a matter of fact, christian science is nothing but a 
theory. The divine mind has no existence. The argument 
that disease and sin are mental impressions is ambiguous 
and faulty. Take a mind that is weakened by excesses and 
harmful indulgences. The weakness is not a mental im- 
pression. Let murder be committed. Is the murderer sinful, 
or is the deed a mental impression? The argument used 
by scientists that the divine mind corrects mental impres- 
sion, and heals sin and disease, is erroneous and misleading. 



156 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

Christian science cannot restore life, or heal cellular and 
physical organs that have lost their power to function. 
Christian science cannot reform a criminal mentality, or 
reclaim a drunkard without depriving him of liquor. Chris- 
tian science cannot remove and heal cancerous or tubercular 
afflictions, or cure any disease that nature would not control 
were it given opportunity and time to do so. Christian 
science will not restore sight, or cause the deaf to hear. It 
will not remove deformities and make them sightly. It 
will not lessen pain, or cure chronic rheumatism. It will 
not heal brain lesions and restore paralytics to activity. Il 
will not even cure a corn or an ingrowing nail by mental 
treatment. Then what is christian science good for? To 
delude some people into thinking that it is an easy stepping- 
stone to heaven, and also a saving in doctor's bills. 

The reason why christian science cannot heal disease 
is because it is impossible for it to reach the mentality of 
the patient except by means of the five senses. What God 
does not and will not do, man, with his limited ability, must 
not expect to accomplish. The only way for christian 
science to treat a man for healing purposes is through the 
senses of touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing. That fact 
has been fully explained in this volume, but to still further 
impress its truthfulness on the minds of readers let them 
try an experiment. Shutting one's self up in a dark room 
free from noise or outside interferences is not a pleasant 
experience, but it will convince any person that no influence, 
christian science, supernatural, or otherwise, can disturb or 
control the thought or physical activities of the prisoner. 
The divine mind will prove to be a fallacy after careful, 
thoughtful investigation. Science healing by extraneous in- 
fluence is a deception, and every other claim for outside 
mental control is sheer and unqualified nonsense. There 
is this one commendable, redeeming quality about christian 
science. It advocates clean living, temperate habits, good, 
worthy citizenship and progressive and enlightened condi- 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 157 

tions. Christian science has no direct healing power, and 
the good it accomplishes through alleged healing results 
from the influence for self-healing it exerts on the patient. 
Also, there is more or less curative influence in the thought 
of the patient that he is being restored to health by a 
power that purports to come from God, or the alleged 
divine mind. Every patient is told that Christ exercised 
that same power or influence, when performing the scrip- 
tural miracles. 

Note the helplessness of a deaf, dumb and blind person 
to communicate with his fellows except by means of the 
sense of touch or feeling. The organs and sensory nerves 
that control the ability to hear, speak and see are useless 
and cannot be made to arouse mental activities, and in con- 
sequence the person is deprived of every method of com- 
municating, or of receiving communications from outside 
sources, unless the mental activities controlled by the sense 
of touch or feeling are called into use. The divine mind, 
should there be such a thing, must necessarilly create men- 
tal activity in the mind of the patient before healing could 
be accomplished. The only way that activity may be aroused 
is by the use of the five senses. It is absolutely impossible 
to reach the mentality and arouse its activities extrane- 
ously in any other manner. Were a deaf, dumb and blind 
person deprived of the sense of touch or feeling he would 
be dead to the world, so far as mental activity awakened 
from outside sources is concerned. It would not be possible 
to communicate with him. If the knowledge of that fact 
does not convince readers that christian science healing by 
absent or other treatment, telepathy, and other thought 
transference processes are not deceptions, they must be un- 
convincible, and incapable of being satisfied with what must 
be acknowledged as irrefutable proof. 



158 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER THIRTY-SIX 

THAT MAN SHOULD LEARN TO DO HIS OWN THINKING, AND 

NOT ALLOW OTHERS TO CONTROL AND INFLUENCE HIS 

CONDUCT, FREQUENTLY AGAINST HIS BEST INTERESTS 

WHEN the fact is better understood that every indi- 
vidual, of both sexes, is an independent and dis- 
tinct unit in human life, we shall learn to think for 
ourselves, instead of allowing others to do our thinking. 
There always will be times when expert advice or counsel 
is needed, but on general propositions concerning personal 
affairs we should learn how to protect ourselves when 
dangers threaten our welfare. Self-reliance, good judg- 
ment and an ability to see things as they should be seen 
become questions of habit. When we cross a crowded 
street, where there is danger of being run down and crip- 
pled, or killed, we are self-reliant and watchful. The same 
watchful care to protect our personal interests throughout 
life should also be exercised. We are provided with men- 
talities for that purpose, and they should be developed and 
made useful. 

It is a law of nature that the weak must succumb to the 
strong. That inevitable result may only be avoided bv 
seeking mental strength to meet emergencies. Strong minds 
provide the necessary strength, and they are absolutely 
essential to success in life's battles. There never has been 
the time when brute strength finally won the victory over 
mental force, and when it comes to a contest between mind 
and matter, the mind invariably becomes the master. Weak 
minds may be strengthened and made more serviceable, but 
they will not acquire knowledge except by study and strict 
application of studious methods. A knife may be sharpened 
and made ready for better use, but it cannot be serviceable 
unless there is something to cut. That is precisely the situ- 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 159 

ation in which a weak mind finds itself when reinforced by 
mental vigor. It then must be given opportunity to acquire 
intellectual strength. 

There are a number of reasons why minds, or mentalities, 
are weak, but usually it is because they lack driving force to 
impel them to become active and vigorous. Oftentimes 
excesses and bad habits weaken the mind, or the weakness 
may have been inherited, but unless the cellular develop- 
ment has been impaired, or disease has injured the brain 
organism, there is a way to invigorate the mentality and 
cause it to be made more serviceable. The process of ac- 
quiring that mental vigor is the same employed to overcome 
bad habits, or any form of wrong doing. Right doing is 
the synonym of mental vigor. To do right lends strength to 
the mind. To do wrong weakens it. The way to strengthen 
a mentality and give it mental force and vigor is to pray for 
strength to do right, to think right, and to live right. That 
is equivalent to praying for mental vigor. 

Prayer is a mental exercise. It creates mental activity 
for right doing by strengthening and upbuilding a desire 
to do right. The mentality controls our physical functions 
and causes us to do either right or wrong. We are guided 
in no other way. There is no supernatural influence to con- 
trol our thoughts, acts or deeds. We are actually, entirely 
our own masters, so far as our mental activities are con- 
cerned. We do right or wrong in accordance with our 
brain cellular development. When controlled by desires for 
wrong doing, the only way to learn to do right is to adopt 
the prayer method of developing brain cellular strength 
to upbuild a desire for right doing. In due time that desire 
will dominate the mentality and cause us to do right. Pray- 
ing to do right is a system of mental training for self -regen- 
eration. It is a system of invigorating the mentality and 
causing it to inspire thoughts and deeds of right doing. It 
is the quickest and surest way to strengthen a weak mind, 
and cause it to become useful to its possessor. 



160 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

Too much stress cannot be placed on the importance of 
prayer as a mental stimulus for right doing. It does not 
invoke divine protection from an extraneous source, be- 
cause there is no such thing for humanity during mortal 
existence. There is no supernatural power that guides, 
controls and protects us. Our mentalities cannot be in- 
spired by divine, or other outside source, or influence. We 
are not of spiritual existence, but are animals of a superior 
order, or species. The Creator has fixed our mental and 
physical status, and no act of ours can change it. We may 
yearn for a spiritual life and aspire to an immortal exis- 
tence, but we are bound by earthly ties to our present con- 
dition as vertebrate animals, constituted of flesh, blood, 
bone, sinew and cellular tissue. Our means of existence is 
precisely the same as that of the higher types of animal 
life. We procreate, are given birth, and during life are 
subject to the different changes and vicissitudes incident 
to other animal existence. 

Our mental training is the only means we have of acquir- 
ing information and knowledge, and everything we know 
or possess is attained by mental endeavor. Nothing comes 
to us unsought, except it be an endowment, a gift, or a pen- 
alty for indiscretion. We owe nothing to supernatural 
influence, and never have been benefited thereby. We have 
our own individual lives to protect and control, and our own 
salvation to accomplish. That must be done through the 
guidance of our individual mentalities. 

Mental training to us is like a compass to a mariner. We 
are guided by the nature of our training. If our mental 
control is wrong, we are sure to do wrong unless vigorous 
efforts are made to change the control for right doing. 
That is the object of prayer, of mental exercise to prompt 
right doing. Prayer develops cellular force for right think- 
ing, right living and right doing. Cellular force is a creation 
of the mentality, and results from the development of brain 
and nerve cells. The nature of this force is either our heaven 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 161 

or our hell here in earthly existence. It causes us to be 
either angels or demons in act and disposition, and no 
power but our own efforts can avail to rescue us from 
the latter condition. Prayer alone is the agent of our salva- 
tion, and prayer also will strengthen our mentalities, and 
cause them to become more useful. At the beginning of 
the work of mental regeneration by means of prayer, it will 
be found that the undesirable as well as the good influences 
will be strengthened. That is the natural result of any 
form of resuscitation. But the mental regeneration will be 
successfully accomplished if the prayers for right doing 
are continued. There could be no other result. 



162 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER THIRTY-SEVEN 

THAT MAN SHOULD NOT USE HIS MENTALITY IN SUCH A 

WAY AS TO CAUSE HIM TO ACQUIRE A REPUTATION FOR 

BEING WHIMSICAL OR IMPRACTICAL, NOR EMPLOY IT 

IN DEVELOPING A USELESS, IMAGINATIVE DISPOSITION 

THE mentality or mind is created or upbuilded accord- 
ing to its various uses. Heretofore, these uses have 
been designated as mental training, which really is 
the proper expression. An idler or a person who wastes his 
life may possess a fully developed mentality, but it is 
more than likely that he lacks mental vigor, owing to the 
faulty manner in which his mentality was developed. Idle- 
ness is not a disease, it is largely a habit. Were the person 
who is controlled by a desire to rest continually put into 
a treadmill and compelled to work for several months, he 
would overcome his slothful habit. Gentlemen of leisure 
are not usually born idlers. Had these men been reared 
in poverty, most of them would have made good work 
hands, or toilers at an occupation that compels physical 
exertion. It is often a great misfortune to be born rich. 
What might have been good mentalities, properly developed, 
have been misdirected by a life of idleness and pleasure. 

It should be explained that a mentality does not develop 
itself. Our lives are not forecast, as is generally believed. 
We are not creatures of fate, although we inherit traits of 
character and physical form handed down by ancestors. 
We also inherit our brain cell organism, replete with myri- 
ads of cells, but these cells must be developed, and if the 
possessor allows them to go to waste, it is the fault of 
his mental training, and not because he did not possess the 
brain cells, fit and ready for use. 

Another wasteful, harmful mental habit is day dreaming, 
using the mind to imagine impossibilities. The imagination 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 163 

may be trained by mental effort to a wonderful degree. It 
requires nothing but mental effort to take the day dreamer 
to China or any other place in the world. Or he may be 
enabled to penetrate the center of the earth, and see vast 
deposits of diamonds, gold or other precious commodities. 
He may even go up in the sky and sit on the clouds, or do 
many unreasonable acts while day dreaming. But what 
does it all amount to? Day dreams, waste of mental en- 
ergy, the cultivation of a harmful habit. That is the result 
of such a misuse of the mentality. Other freaks of the 
imagination are still more injurious. They enter into the 
realm of personal affairs. The imagination may see a dear 
friend compromising himself, and nurse the thought until 
it seems a reality, or it may fancy that there is a ghost 
under the bed and cause its possessor to be thrown into a 
spasm. Or spirits may come to dwell continually in a per- 
son's imagination, or he may see burglars and other un- 
realities by constantly day dreaming, and wasting mental 
effort. 

All wastes of mental effort may be stopped by the same 
endeavor that creates them. Use of the mind means mental 
effort. The mentality, or mind, may be employed for either 
good or bad purposes. When used to develop harmful 
habits of any kind, then the mental effort is not properly 
directed. Learn to be practical in thought and deed. Learn 
to use the mentality rightly, and not for harmful purposes. 
Don't be a dreamer, or a crank. Put off desires to idle 
away a life, and learn to be useful to self, and to the 
world. Pray for strength to be practical, and to put down 
imaginative and harmful inclinations. Earnest, honest 
prayers will inspire mental vigor and banish harmful habits 
and desires. 



164 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER THIRTY-EIGHT 

THAT NO MAN OR WOMAN SHOULD BE PERMITTED TO MARRY 

WHO IS MENTALLY OR PHYSICALLY DEFICIENT, OR 

WHO IS AFFLICTED WITH A DISEASE OR 

INFIRMITY THAT MAY BE INHERITED 

THERE is no question but that the sins of the fathers 
may be visited on their children, also that children 
may inherit mental and physical deficiencies and in- 
firmities that would make life a burden to them and to 
those responsible for their existence. Another cause for 
complaint is that drunken, bestial fathers, and immoral 
mothers, often bring children into the world who inherit 
the traits of their parents, and usually begin a youthful 
career of wickedness and crime. There would not be so 
many vile slums to disgrace humanity, if such marriages 
and methods of raising children were prohibited. It has 
often been said, "Why does God permit these things?" If 
we had a God who would permit such a palpable disgrace 
to humanity, He would not be worthy of recognition. But 
we have no personal God who is responsible for the sins 
and misdeeds of the world; therefore we should try to 
stamp them out ourselves. 

Laws have been enacted in various states, forbidding the 
marriage of idiots, or mental defectives, but there is a 
difference between defectives and deficients. The men- 
tally deficient person would be one who would have sense 
enough to court a hundred, but hardly enough mental 
ability to support a wife and family. A woman might be 
deficient, and become a slatternly, incompetent housekeeper, 
and an incapable mother of children. It is rather a strange 
freak of nature, that men and women who do not possess 
enough good sense to be graded as competent people, can 
procreate children. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 165 

Children born from parents who are either mentally or 
physically deficient, or who suffer from an inherited dis- 
ease, are to be pitied. They enter life with a burden that 
must inevitably prove to be their undoing. Man would 
never breed defective animals. He could not afford the 
loss. But he would allow his relatives, friends, or neigh- 
bors to marry cripples, in mind or body, and then wonder 
why the public must support county asylums, where the 
children of these cripples may find homes. 

Another cause for complaint is the example parents 
set for their children. A drunken, swearing father, or a 
frowsy, scolding mother, seldom realizes the truthfulness 
of the old adage "Like father, like son." Children cannot 
grow up in a household where there are domestic troubles 
without fixing them in their mentalities, to sooner or later 
be developed and made realities in their lives. A son will 
learn to smoke, or chew tobacco, and to swear and do 
things that daddy did. The daughter will become a scold 
and a slattern from habit. She has seen her mother slouch 
around half dressed and talking loudly, until she, too, has 
acquired the habit. 

Parents should remember that children begin mental 
training at an early age, and every act, good or bad, that 
comes under their observation will make a mental im- 
pression either to furnish food for thought later on, or to 
be imitated. Mental training consists of what is learned by 
study, thought, observation, and of all else picked up by the 
use of the five senses. Children are quick to learn, and to 
them, at an early age, wrong doing has an equal value with 
right doing. Until old enough to understand the difference, 
children do not know right from wrong doing. 

The right start in life is essential to the welfare of chil- 
dren. There is not a single thought or act in the life of a 
child, that does not result from brain cell development. 
The growth of their bodies and physical functions keep 
pace with the development of their mentalities. A child 



166 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

advanced in years should not have an undeveloped mental- 
ity, nor can this be possible if the cellular functions are 
active and vigorous. That is one reason why parents should 
not marry unless they are normal, and not deficient in 
mind or body. 

Teach children to pray. Give them to understand that 
prayer will guide them and cause them to become good 
men and women. A prayerful mother will raise desirable 
children. A prayerful father will always be a good example 
for his children to follow. Prayers will help and hasten 
the mental development of children. There will be no 
wrong doing unless there is cellular energy to prompt it. 
Keep that development out of a child's mentality if possible. 
Mental training for right doing will do it. Prayers to do 
right will exert a wonderful influence in developing a child's 
mind. It will enable the child to grow into adult life as a 
credit and an ornament to society. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 167 



PROPOSITION NUMBER THIRTY-NINE 

THAT CONVICTED CRIMINALS SHOULD NEVER BE PERMITTED 
TO RETURN TO PRIVATE LIFE, UNTIL THEY HAVE BEEN 
AFFORDED OPPORTUNITY TO REGENERATE THEIR 
MENTALITIES, AND BE IN A FIT CONDI- 
TION TO BECOME WORTHY CITIZENS 

A CRIMINAL commits crime, because he cannot help 
it. He is possessed with a mentality controlled by an 
influence that prompts wrong doing, and only the 
fear of punishment will prevent him from following his 
inclinations. Whenever a criminal thinks he will not be 
detected, he will commit depredations and prey upon the 
public. 

Several explanations have already been made in this 
volume why the mentality is the man, but to apply the 
principle directly to the case of a criminal it will be re- 
peated. A mentality consists of myriads of brain and nerve 
cells located in the brain organ, and they are connected with 
the nerve system that ramifies in every part of the body. 
This brain cellular organism is divided into centers, each of 
which has its particular function in influencing physical 
and thought activities. Mental effort develops and actuates 
the brain and nerve cells, and causes them to prompt 
thoughts, acts, deeds and impulses. The process of develop- 
ing brain cells is designated as mental training, and it be- 
gins with infancy and ends with death, if the cellular or- 
ganism is vigorous and active. There are two elements in 
every mentality, created by right or wrong doing. One of 
these elements is always in control. If our lives have chiefly 
been spent in wrong doing, in other words if our mental 
control has been created by thought and acts of wrong 
doing, our mentalities will be dominated by that influence. 
The only way the objectionable control may be changed 



168 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

is to upbuild and strengthen a desire for right doing. Other- 
wise we will continue to do wrong. That would be our 
nature. It would be the promptings of our undesirable 
mental control. 

A criminal will be a criminal until the influence that 
controls his mental activities is subjugated, on the same 
principle that the best protection from the bite of a rattle- 
snake is to pull its fangs. Readers will call to mind the 
many efforts made to reform criminals after they have been 
discharged from prison life, most of which were failures. A 
criminal is not like other human beings. His mentality does 
not always respond to acts of kindness. He is a criminal by 
nature, instinct, and inclination, and handling him with 
gloves, while in that mental condition, is like trying to pet 
a wolf. That does not mean that the mentality of a criminal 
may not be regenerated, and made to prompt right doing. 
The task would be difficult, and could not be accomplished, 
while the criminal was herded with other convicts in prison 
life. He would have to be given outdoor existence, where 
he could earn a livelihood and be in communion with na- 
ture. It would also be necessary to require the criminal 
to take up the prayer cure, heartily and earnestly, that a 
strong desire for right doing might become his constant and 
increasing thought. 

Heartfelt prayer arouses desire for right doing. It is 
the only way to reach and awaken mental effort that will 
exert a beneficial influence over the mind. We pray to our 
better nature, to an innate power that uplifts our thoughts 
and upbuilds our hopes and desires for a better life. No 
prayer except that for self-benefit will be answered. We 
might pray forever for change in anything else in creation, 
and our prayerful efforts would be wasted. We could pray 
always for the safety and welfare of our fellow beings 
without benefiting them in any way. We are all creatures 
of nature. 

It is difficult to convince church people that there is no 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 169 

personal God, divine mind, or supernatural influence to 
control our thoughts and guide our acts and deeds for right 
doing. To substantiate their belief in this supernatural con- 
trol they refer to the kindly acts and deeds of persons 
afflicted with a wrong-doing or criminal nature. Every 
person of mature age has undergone a mental training that 
developed both right- and wrong-doing brain cellularism. 
It would be impossible for an individual to exist in this 
day and age and be wholly and entirely wicked. We are all 
possessed with thoughts, tendencies and inclinations for 
both right and wrong doing. The proclivities of an animal 
nature prevent the creation of a saintly existence, and there 
must necessarily be a dual development of both good and 
undesirable mental tendencies. A criminal will therefore 
occasionally be controlled by worthy influences. It is the 
possession of this desirable mental control that gives hope 
of his ultimate reformation under favorable surroundings 
and conditions. 



170 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER FORTY 

THAT THE MYSTERY CONCERNING THE MENTAL DEVELOP- 
MENT OF CERTAIN TYPES OF GENIUS, AND OF YOUNG 
PRODIGIES, MAY BE EXPLAINED BY LOOKING UP THE 
TRAITS OF CHARACTER OF THEIR ANCESTORS 

TRAITS of character, pecularities of form, and other 
similarities of the mental and physical functions are 
inherited. It is supposed that we are human repro- 
ductions of those to whom we owe life. We are of animal 
descent. We were propagated and born in the same manner 
that all vertebrates come into existence. There is no dif- 
ference. We may have inherited genius, or it may have 
been disease, or an infirmity. We are not so particular in 
breeding our own kind as we are when raising horses, 
cattle, sheep, dogs, hogs, cats or other domestic animals. 
Rare and well bred domestic animals bring good prices in 
the market. We raise and sell them, but as we consider 
ourselves beings of a personal God's choosing, we depend 
on His judgment in the matter of our own breeding. That 
is a serious mistake. 

The brain organism, and every other physical organ and 
function, are handed down to us through the process of pro- 
creation. That process is precisely the same as the one 
used by the domestic animals, which we are so careful to 
breed from the best stock to be had. We are super-animals 
and nothing else, and are subject to nature's laws. There 
is no dodging that fact. We inherit animal proclivities, 
mental attributes, detrimental influences, and other traits 
of our ancestors, through the medium of our brain cellular 
organs. Domestic and other vertebrate animals inherit the 
five senses only, in connection with good or undesirable 
physical forms and functions. We inherit the five senses, 
and the physical forms and functions of the man animal, 






FINDING THE REAL GOD 171 

also the sixth or super-sense, which actuates and develops 
the super-mental powers of a full-fledged human being. 
These powers are inherited in an undeveloped state, from 
our ancestors, at the time of our procreation. 

The brain organism is the seat of the mentality, which 
controls the five senses used by domestic and other ver- 
tebrate animals, and also controls the physical func- 
tions, both of which enable them to thrive and procreate. 
This mentality is actuated by brain and nerve cells, in the 
same manner as that of a human being. As super- animals 
we inherit a brain organism consisting of more brain cen- 
ters, and a far greater number of brain and nerve cells sub- 
ject to development. There are brain cell centers for phys- 
ical functions, for the use of the five senses, and for the 
sixth sense, that uplifts man from the condition of an ordi- 
nary vertebrate. The sixth sense, however, does not alter 
the nature of man's animal tendencies and proclivities, al- 
though if called into use the sixth sense will subjugate and 
keep these tendencies and proclivities under control. 

We now come to the point where the cause for the ap- 
pearance of people with great mental genius, and of youth- 
ful prodigies, may be explained. Both of these unusual 
developments of superior human intelligence owe their 
ability largely to their ancestors. A part of it, however* is 
due to the studious efforts of the surprisingly brilliant peo- 
ple. Traits of inherited genius do not always appear in 
successive generations. They may not be developed for 
several generations, and then will make their appearance. 
The brain cells that eventually are to render the possessor 
famous are sometimes inherited in an undeveloped state 
in the brain organism of an unlucky owner, and for some 
reason were not developed, but were carried by their pos- 
sessor over to another generation. Mankind would never 
have made progress in mental development if this method 
of inheriting brain cell ability were not a fact. The brain 
organism is a physical function and is subject to inheritance 



172 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

in the same manner as other physical traits are handed down 
from parents to children. This same law of nature gives 
us improved domestic animals, and it also applies to man. 

The sixth, or innate sense, is the only sense capable of 
development by mental effort. We cannot increase the 
strength or sensitiveness of our sight, touch, smell, taste 
or hearing by prayer, or other mental application. The five 
senses are not subject to such treatment. It is the sixth 
sense, that dominates not only our mentalities, but all of 
our other functions. It enables us to memorize and acquire 
information and knowledge. It controls the use of our 
mentalities, and gives us power to think, study out prob- 
lems of every kind, invent and devise improvements, carry 
on business enterprises, and do everything else that we 
do except to see, hear, touch, taste and smell. And these 
senses are under control of the sixth sense. Through the 
use of the sixth sense, we are enabled to subjugate desires 
for wrong doing, and to establish right doing as the dom- 
inating influence of our lives. Were it not for the mental 
effort aroused by this sense, and kept alive and active as 
a controlling power, we would soon drop back into the 
same bestial condition that governed the existence of pre- 
historic man. 

It would be well to more carefully consider why the 
Creator endowed man with the sixth or innate sense. The 
endowment could not have been solely for the purpose of 
permitting man to develop himself into a demi-god with 
ability to take possession of the world and control it for 
his own selfish uses. Free from the influence of animal 
tendencies the sixth sense is capable of causing man to 
rise to the height of an extreme degree of intellectuality. 
All men of great genius have been devout in nature and 
practice. They have been disciples of a prayerful habit, and 
during that part of their existence in which their fame was 
upbuilded these men of intellectual worth abstained from 
indulgences that debase and ruin the mind. The germ of 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 173 

mortal life bestowed on mankind unquestionably bears with 
it the stamp of genius and intellectuality. It distinguishes 
and uplifts man from the bestiality of an animal existence, 
and the proof of that assertion may be found in the fact 
that all other vertebrates are true animals in instinct, habit, 
intelligence and methods of living. 

Look still further into the reason why man was endowed 
with the germ of intellectuality. All gross desires, base 
tendencies, and| undesirable habits and inclinations are 
developments of an animal nature . They spring from 
habits and inclinations acquired through the promptings of 
the five senses, touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing. These 
senses control animal instinct and belong exclusively to 
vertebrate animal existence, of which mankind is a species. 
One of the duties of the sixth, or innate sense, is to sub- 
jugate man's animal tendencies when called upon to do so, 
and the only safe and sure method of employing the sixth 
sense to overcome these tendencies is to develop and up- 
build it by prayerful endeavor. There are two other 
essential motives for upbuilding the sixth, or innate sense, 
aside from the banishment of the sin of wrong doing. One 
is the motive for restoring health to afflicted physical func- 
tions, and the other is the important and much desired 
preparation for immortal transcendency. 



174 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER FORTY-ONE 

THAT PROFANITY, THE USE OF SWEAR WORDS, IS AN INDI- 
CATION OF A FOUL, UNCOUTH MIND, AND ITS 
USE SHOULD BE ABANDONED 

PROFANITY is not an unforgivable sin, or wrong 
doing. It really has no alarming influence on the 
character of the swearing animal, but it is an indi- 
cation of his mental foulness, and obviates the necessity of 
a sign board warning people to keep away from the verbal 
profligate. Swearing, considered from the effect it produces, 
must be looked at from another standpoint. Oaths and 
foul language are a part of a mental training. A tendency 
for wrong doing may be inherited, but language and efforts 
at doing wrong are always acquired, in the same manner 
that verses from the bible may be memorized. Mental 
training does not consist altogether of acquiring knowledge, 
or of studying languages. It embraces the performance of 
every act, deed and movement, of every thought either 
memorized or spoken, of everything seen, heard, touched, 
smelled, felt or tasted. Mental training consists of the stor- 
ing away in the mentality of everything done or accom- 
plished. Life is the creator of mental effort, of mental 
training, and the senses promote or excite the activities. 
The use of "cuss words," then, is only a slight episode 
in a career of mental training, but it is reprehensible, dis- 
gusting and objectionable. The same effort required in 
learning to use foul language could be applied to much 
better advantage by acquiring the habit of speaking politely, 
genteelly and like a respectable, acceptable person. People 
who lose control of themselves are most apt to use foul 
language. They seem to think that touching off the maga- 
zine that holds "cuss words" will keep them from other- 
wise exploding. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 175 

Kind thoughts and mild language will do more towards 
smoothing down mental perturbances than anything else. 
Brain storms and foul, vindictive language are detrimental 
to right-doing control. A wicked man who is demented 
will swear, and swear, and then keep on swearing, because 
he has lost ability to control the activities of his mentality. 
A man with a mentality acquired by right doing will never 
lose mental control. Wrong doing destroys mental control 
by impairing and perverting the use of the sixth sense, the 
attribute that raises man above the level of an animal. When 
a man's eyes see red, and he runs amuck, swearing venge- 
ance on his fellow kind, he is crazy and has lost mental con- 
trol. Such men are prone to use foul, objectionable lan- 
guage. Their mentalities indicate a life of wrong training. 



176 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER FORTY-TWO 

THAT HUMAN LOVE IS SUPREME WHEN PROPERLY DEVELOPED, 

AND THAT IT IS MANKIND'S CHIEF BENEFACTOR. 

WHEN NOT RECIPROCATED, LOVE BECOMES 

A DISTRESSING TORMENT 

THERE is no worse enemy to mental comfort and 
balance than uncontrollable love, and no worse foe 
to mental control than hatred inspired by a love not 
reciprocated and appreciated. When it comes to discussing 
the ins and outs of human love, there are so many peculi- 
arities and so many degrees of sincerity in that indispens- 
able emotion that it is difficult to find either a starting or 
a stopping place. Human love, in its first stages, is an 
emotion. It originates through the use of the five senses, 
and is stirred into action by some admirable characteristic 
of the object of the affection. Sooner or later, the emotion, 
when firmly fixed in the mentality, is known as love. There 
may be such a thing as love at first sight, but that is hardly 
possible. A young man and woman may meet and become 
immediately attractive to each other. After a time, they 
think it was love at first sight, but the affection had then 
grown to a reality, and seemed as if it had always existed. 
Passion and desire have much to do with first exciting 
the emotions, and then in creating love. Passion and de- 
sire are animal propensities, and are part of the nature 
of almost every human being. Passion and desire belong 
to the procreative function, and when strongly developed 
are almost uncontrollable. Under such a condition, these 
propensities create great mental suffering and distress, both 
to their possessor and to the victims of their inordinate 
desire. 

Love, calmly controlled and carefully trained, is the 
best and most satisfactory of mental developments. It is 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 177 

a cellular influence that is subject to intense feeling, espe- 
cially when not held under subjection. Love, reasonable, 
controllable, is an inestimable treasure. It creates happy 
homes, propagates wonderful, much valued families, is the 
cause of personal and public contentment, and prompts joy 
and happiness too blissful for description. These great 
boons to humanity, and for the good of the world, spring 
from the existence of true, unalloyed love. 

There are other types of love, some of which are com- 
mendable, but none of them compare with the true love 
that knows no turning, no end except death, no sorrow that 
does not change to joy in the presence of its idol, no dimi- 
nution because of separation, no suffering when privations 
intervene, and no fear that God will not approve it. There 
is a love principally kept alive by passion, that is real and 
commendable until misfortune interposes, when the pos- 
sessor of the passionate love will seek another affinity. 

Then, there is the all-consuming love, that incites jeal- 
ousy and causes its victim to become partly demented, 
when excited by jealous apprehensions. Such a love would 
be both desirable and admirable if it could be controlled by 
reason. But that is not always possible. The excitable 
temperament of the possessor may not be controllable, or 
the insincerity and disloyality of the consort may be the 
cause of the jealousy. In that event, the situation is truly 
to be regretted. No mental agony could be evoked that 
would cause so much misery as jealousy prompted by love. 
It is a mental hell turned lose for the time being. It is a 
torment too intense, unbearable and painful to describe. 
It is despair, temporary death to hope, and complete de- 
jection, all consolidated and flung into the heart at one 
time. Such is jealousy. 

There is a cure for all the tribulations caused by love, 
but no alleviation for love itself. Love is an attribute that 
should need no easement. It should stand forever in token 
of the heart's affection. What is life without love? A 



178 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

mental desert without an oasis, a broad sea without a land- 
ing place, a long silence without a joyful awakening, a men- 
tality without a kind thought. 

The cure for unrequited love, for disappointments, jeal- 
ousy, uncontrollable desire, disloyalty, lack of control, and 
other love afflictions is a change in the mentality. Love it- 
self, when loyal and true, needs no change, but mental 
troubles growing out of lack of control require a panacea, 
which may only be obtained through the efficacy of prayer. 
Prayer will upbuild the mental control for right thinking. 
That is what love disappointment needs. Jealousy, dejec- 
tion and similar love tribulations may be put into the discard 
by the mental strength to be found in sincere, earnest 
prayer. Pray for strength to do right and keep on praying, 
night and day, until relief is had. 






FINDING THE REAL GOD 179 

PROPOSITION NUMBER FORTY-THREE 

THAT PRAYERS TO SAINTS AND OTHER MORTALS, WHO HAVE 

DEPARTED THIS LIFE, WILL NOT BE ANSWERED. ONLY 

INDIVIDUAL SUPPLICATIONS FOR MENTAL AND 

PHYSICAL WELFARE WILL PROVE BENEFICIAL 

IT HAS long been the practice of certain church organ- 
izations to recommend that members offer prayers to 
saints and martyrs for earthly rewards and benefits. 
There could be no harm in this method of seeking such 
favors, but there is no possibility of their being bestowed. 
That is an evident fact, or there could not be so much suf- 
fering, misery and wrong doing in the world. If God will 
not heed our invocations, how could we expect saints to 
do so? 

Excuses are frequently made for God's apparent neglect 
to interfere with mortal affairs by statements that scourges, 
wars, and other national calamities are punishments for 
some great wrong, for which we are responsible. If a 
personal God could have prevented the existence of these 
wrongs, why did he not do so? Under the influence and 
protection of a Merciful, All-Powerful God, we should 
not be permitted to do wrong, either as individuals, or in 
combination as an army, or a nation. There is no personal 
God who overlooks and upbuilds our welfare. 

Man has fought his own way upward from a state of bar- 
barism to his present intellectual, civilized condition. The 
only help God gave to man was the endowment of a supe- 
rior mentality, capable of finally overcoming man's bestial 
tendencies, inherited from his ancestors. Had it not been 
a divine provision that man should take care of himself, God 
would have created him as a perfect mortal being, free from 
the evils that now afflict humanity. There is no evidence 
in man's present life that he has received any supernatural 
benefits. If man prospers it is by his own efforts. If man 
sins, or does wrong, his own courts of justice punish him, 



180 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

if the wrong doing is of a criminal nature. Man, from the 
beginning, has been his own free agent. He has implored 
many divine favors, and the only answer to his prayers 
has been the upbuilding of his mentality. There could be 
no other answer. 

In connection with the continuance of the church custom 
of offering prayers to saints, there are other religious 
ceremonies which might be dispensed with, were it not for 
the good they do in arousing a sincere desire for self-bet- 
terment. Any church rite, ceremony or custom that awakens 
better thought and prompts an effort at right doing should 
be continued, no matter where it comes from, or what church 
organization practices it. Thinking right is the first step to 
doing right. The person who desires to do right will always 
find a way to cause that desire to become a reality. God 
endowed man with a mentality, that he might uplift him- 
self and the world from bestiality and wrong doing. That 
is the answer to the question: Why does God neglect us 
in our many troubles? 

We should banish from our minds thoughts and desires 
for supernatural relief from our troubles. We are our own 
lords and masters and necessarily must be our own saviors 
from a mortal existence of sorrow, suffering and wrong 
doing. Church associations will prove helpful, but self- 
regeneration must be had by our own individual efforts. 
There may be a heaven, where saints and martyrs officiate 
as assistants to a personal God in His distribution of mercy 
and forgiveness of sinful transgression. But no mortal of 
high or low degree in religious affairs has definite knowl- 
edge of the existence of a personal God, or of His heaven 
filled with angels enjoying eternal bliss. All such informa- 
tion is like the fable of the existence of Santa Claus with 
which we delude little children. We must look to a higher 
power than a personal God, for salvation and immortality. 
That Deity is the Creator of the universe and all of its 
belongings, including mankind. 









FINDING THE REAL GOD 181 

PROPROSITION NUMBER FORTY-FOUR 

THAT MAN DOES MUCH TO PREVENT THE ENJOYMENT OF A 
LONG LIFE, AND THE FULL USE OF HIS MENTALITY 

THE mentality is the man, and if the cellular organism 
which constitutes the mentality is strong and vigorous, 
the person possessing it will be healthy, free from 
physical troubles, and will live a long and useful life. There 
are a number of reasons why that statement is true. The 
mentality controls every organ and function of the body. 
The slightest pain, illness, movement, or lack of function of 
any organ is made known through the mentality. Should the 
mentality be weakened through the use of narcotics, to- 
bacco, strong drink or excessive or unnatural indulgences, 
the bodily functions will suffer and illness will follow. 
Brain storms, and other forms of rage and fits of temper, are 
injurious to the mentality, and if persisted in will cause loss 
of mental control. The habit of overeating, and every other 
habit that causes ill health, are indications of mental weak- 
ness. Frequent indulgences will cause the cellular control 
and the bodily functions to lose their vitality, and finally 
end in developing disease. 

People in the youth and vigor of life are prone to for- 
get that the pitcher may be carried once too often to the 
well. There is a limit to the strength and vitality of brain 
cells, also of bodily functions. Sometimes, inherited weak- 
ness causes the danger point of a breakdown to be nearer. 
But, in any event, that breakdown must come sooner or 
later, either from old age or irrational indulgences. It is 
better to always keep in mind the one life-saving thought, 
never let a habit be made a mental fixture. Before we be- 
come invalids, or victims of mental and physical disorders, 
there must be a loss of cellular vigor in some part of our 
mentalities. It is true that the weakness may be inherited, 
but it was the result of overindulgence on the part of an 
ancestor, and the argument applies just the same. To avoid 



182 FOR THE GOOD OF 1 HE WORLD 

a mental and physical breakdown, care should be taken not 
to allow habit to cause overindulgence. Excesses of every 
kind impair mental and physical vigor, and shorten the span 
of life. 

The mentality, when normal, is the strongest, yet most 
sensitive, physical function connected with our anatomy. 
It is the fount that supplies us with life, vigor and strength, 
and keeps our other functions in good condition, when not 
overworked. It is the supreme element of human existence, 
and for that reason should be cared for as our most precious 
possession. But who ever thought of preserving a mental- 
ity? If a leg is sprained, or a tooth aches, we run to the 
doctor. If we have a pain, something must be done to alle- 
viate the suffering. Nine times out of ten we have been 
mentally warned that these afflictions would come, unless 
means were taken to prevent them. It must be plain, then, 
that we should protect ourselves from the assaults of nature 
by not allowing detrimental habits to get control of our 
appetites, desires and other animal propensities, and also by 
keeping our mentalities strong and vigorous. 

The question every self-respecting man should ask him- 
self is whether or not he can afford to sacrifice his health, 
comfort, future hope of salvation and all else in life worth 
preserving for the apparent temporary enjoyment of bad 
habits and excessive indulgences. That vital query is worthy 
of careful consideration. It is easier to give up wrong 
doing in the earlier stages of that experience than it will 
be when life's energies and vigor have been sapped and 
weakened by harmful practices. A mentality cannot be 
successfully regenerated when its cellular tissues do not 
respond to mental activities. The old saying that "it is 
never too late to repent" is no longer applicable to human 
reformation. Long-continued overindulgence of any kind 
destroys the vitality of cellular tissue and causes mental 
and physical disability. The time to stop doing wrong is 
when we have mental strength and ability to do so. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 183 



PROPOSITION NUMBER FORTY-FIVE 

THAT INTUITION, MENTAL INSTINCT, IS ANOTHER PROOF 
THAT MAN'S INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE AC- 
QUIRED FROM OUTSIDE SOURCES ARE ATTAINED BY 
MEANS OF THE FIVE SENSES 

MENTAL instinct, or intuition, as it is commonly 
known, is a feeling prompted by the five senses. 
Seeing a horrid object prompts a feeling of dis- 
like. The sight of a beautiful person or thing causes the 
opposite impression. Hearing, touch, taste and smell each 
prompt similar likes and dislikes. The gentle sex is more 
sensitive to moods brought on by the senses. Women are 
more emotional and possess quicker and more acute per- 
ception than men. Whenever a woman's prejudices 
are aroused by the first appearance of a man, or an object 
that attracts her attention, it will be found on investigation 
that the opinion thus formed is not far wronsr. Mental in- 
stinct is simply an opinion formed by an impression created 
by the five senses. It is a function that may not always be 
reliable. Prejudices and dislikes are ugly things to deal 
with, and when aroused great care should be taken to in- 
vestigate them in order to avoid mistakes. 

Mental instinct, or intuition, that creates favorable im- 
pressions is not so dangerous. But there are times when 
a handsome, clean-looking rascal, or an attractive, beauti- 
ful object, may be very deceptive until more closely investi- 
gated, when it will prove to be anything but desirable. There 
is a class of men who make it a business to prey on women 
susceptible to flattery and an attractive appearance. These 
men know that good looks go a long way towards convinc- 
ing a woman that almost any kind of a business venture is 
profitable, or that the woman, herself, is wonderfully 
charming, provided she has money. Intuition, therefore, is 



184 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

not always to be trusted, especially when there is either 
money or future happiness at stake. We were endowed 
with mentalities to be used to protect ourselves from flat- 
tery, deception, impulsive acts and other means of inter- 
fering with our welfare. Always think carefully, when in- 
tuition prompts an undertaking. Get at the facts before 
investing in an enterprise recommended by mental instinct. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 185 



PROPOSITION NUMBER FORTY-SIX 

THAT THE MENTAL ACTIVITY KNOWN AS CONSCIENCE RE- 
SULTS FROM NATURAL CAUSES. IT IS NOT A SPIRITUAL 
MONITOR THAT WARNS ITS POSSESSOR OF HIS WRONG 
DOING AND FINALLY BECOMES AN INSTRUMENT OF 
MENTAL TORTURE BY PROMPTING THOUGHTS 
OF REMORSE AND PENITENCE 

THE two elements of the mentality, for right and 
wrong doing, are always in conflict with each other 
for the dominating control, unless one or the other 
of them has attained a marked superiority. A man may be 
so good that he will have no conscience, or he may be so 
vile and unworthy that no murderous deed he might per- 
petrate would cause a thought of regret. It is only when 
the two conflicting mental efforts are more nearly balanced 
that the person possessing them will hear the still voice of 
the so-called conscience. That voice, or thought, is prompt- 
ed by the mental effort inspiring regret for the wrong 
doing. Continued regrets for wrong doing will, in time, 
change to remorseful thoughts. Those thoughts then be- 
come a means of mental punishment. They will constantly 
harass the mind. Remorse frequently brings on insanity, 
when mental control is lost. Sanity means an ability to 
control the mentality by mental effort, and to reject thoughts 
that prompt deeds for wrong doing of every form and 
nature. 

Uncontrollable fits of rage and passion, if persistent and 
frequent, will result in insanity, through the destruction 
of brain cellular tissues. Excesses such as the use of alco- 
holic drink and narcotics, sensual indulgences, greed for 
money and similar disorders often cause the loss of mental 
control through lack of cellular vigor. Extreme mental 
violence and agitation should also be avoided. A mind 



186 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

that is subject to attacks of nervousness and excitement 
indicates a weakness that should be relieved. Injured brain 
cells can never be restored. Loss of the mind that results 
from such causes may never be recovered. The time to 
retain mental control and prevent insanity is before the 
crisis. When inherited taints develop and destroy brain 
cells, or when excesses cause cellular rupture, there is little 
hope of recovery from the effects. But there is always a 
chance of reforming a mentality when the brain cells are 
not diseased or injured. 

Prayer is the means of certain mental reformation, if 
it is persistent, frequent, sincere and devout. Gross ex- 
cesses may be restricted, bad habits dropped, injurious appe- 
tites curbed, violent tempers restrained, cruel natures erad- 
icated, vile tendencies overcome, and every other form of 
wrong doing banished by prayer. That may seem to be 
an ill considered statement, a thoughtless proposition. On 
the contrary it is a fact easily established. 

It must be conceded that man's mentality controls all 
his thoughts, desires, acts and deeds. He does not take a 
drink of water, utter a word, or perform an act of any 
kind that is not prompted by his mentality. The reason 
for this absolute, relentless domination is that man's brain 
cellular development is the seat of his mentality. The myr- 
iads of brain cells developed in the brain organ have 
been made active by mental training, to which each indi- 
vidual has been subjected during his life career. The cells 
thus developed prompt his thoughts, deeds and acts. They 
stimulate his desires and gather strength from the fre- 
quency of their use. These brain cells are actuated by 
mental effort. The man thinks, and the thought is often 
the father of the deed. The oftener a man thinks of doing 
a certain thing, the greater is his desire to do it, provided 
it can be done. All of man's thoughts and deeds are either 
for right or for wrong doing. Thoughts and deeds for 
right doing should be strengthened and encouraged. They 






FINDING THE REAL GOD 187 

mean mental and physical upbuilding, both to the man 
and to the world. Thoughts and deeds for wrong doing 
have a contrary effect. They destroy both mental and phys- 
ical health, and cause individual and public distress. 



188 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER FORTY-SEVEN 

THAT SEEING SPIRITS/ GHOSTS, APPARITIONS, OR WRAITHS OF 

DECEASED RELATIVES OR OTHERS WHO HAVE PASSED 

OUT OF MORTAL LIFE IS A MENTAL DELUSION 

IT would first be proper to prove that there is such a 
thing as a spirit or ghost, before attempting to dis- 
credit that probable impossibility. But such proof can- 
not be produced. That assertion does not mean that cer- 
tain persons do not see spirits, or what they call spirits. 
There are many good, reliable people who honestly believe 
that they are permitted to see and commune with departed 
friends, and others who have gone into the great unknown. 
Spiritualism, under such circumstances, is a delicate sub- 
ject to deal with, but it is connected with mental science 
in such a way that it should be carefully considered. 

Seeing spirits is a mental delusion, and all mechanical 
and physical evidence of their existence, as demonstrated 
by mediums, is an undoubted deception. Various claims are 
made by people who see spirits as to their appearance in 
ethereal existence. Some see them garbed in white robes, 
apparently as angels. Others view them in earthly gar- 
ments, such as were worn in mortal life by those who have 
been materialized. Usually these spirits look as they did 
when on earth. Sometimes they appear to have grown in 
age and stature, but they are always well and happy, and 
appear from their messages to friends to be contented. 

The thought that loved friends are permitted to see and 
communicate with us after death, is inspiring and welcome 
to most mortals. It is beautiful, sweet and consoling. But 
on the other hand there are people who would prefer not 
to have their deceased relatives, or in fact any other spirits, 
see what they are doing here on earth. Spiritualism, then, 
is not always a welcome belief. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 189 

There may be an aura, or other spirit semblance em- 
bodied in our beings, which will be set free to float on 
the ethereal after death. If so, no scientific investigation, 
or other effort to find it in our bodies during life, or reveal 
its departure when the breath left the body, has been suc- 
cessful. Surely, there is no element in the flesh, blood, bone 
and sinews that compose our bodily belongings, that would 
indicate a spiritual presence. The mentality, to which we 
owe life and mental and physical activity, is a physical func- 
tion, actuated by brain and nerve cells. Such a place would 
not be a suitable habitation for a spirit. Where, then, does 
the spirit dwell that comes back to earth and claims to be 
our counterpart? 

As was previously stated, seeing spirits is a mental de- 
lusion. There are no spirits to be seen. The spirits that 
people think they see are either figments of the imagina- 
tion, or are deceptions contrived by alleged mediums. Fic- 
tions of the brain cells, or freaks of the imagination, are 
common mental disturbances and should not attract serious 
attention. But when they concoct or create spirit delusions 
of departed friends, it is time to look into the matter. A 
man stricken with delirium tremens sees fancied spirits, 
other than those he has been drinking. These spirits are 
sometimes snakes, queer-shaped animals, horrible scenes, 
and other freaks of a disordered mentality. Insanity brings 
on similar hallucinations not necessary to explain. Then, 
there are milder forms of mental disorders in which the 
persons are afflicted with manias of various kinds. Some of 
them are of a harmless nature. It is to this class that peo- 
ple who see spirits should be assigned. Generally speaking, 
all such people are of a nervous temperament and are likely 
to see ghosts in the dark. They patronize mediums, clair- 
voyants and fortune tellers, and are liberal patrons of 
everything that deals in mysticism and superstition. 

People who see spirits are not always mentally unbal- 
anced. There are many persons who do not see spirits who 



190 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

are freaky in other ways, and who are looked upon as 
brilliant examples of mental brightness. Seeing spirits, or 
any other unreality, is inviting mental trouble. It may 
become a habit that will end in serious consequences. The 
mind should be trained to consider nothing but realities. 
Seeing spirits is a freak of the imagination that seems a 
reality, until analyzed by good common sense. The thought 
that a loved relative in spirit form should witness some of 
our earthly escapades ought to put an end to such non- 
sense. God would not allow spirits to dwell on earth after 
their mortal experience here. He would send them to 
higher realms, if there is such a thing as spirits. Until 
everyone is permitted to see the ghosts of departed ones, 
instead of restricting that privilege to nervous, imagina- 
tive people and mediums, let us decide that there are no 
spirits. 

Another peculiar form of belief is that of communicat- 
ing with spirits by table-tipping, rapping, slate-writing, 
ouija boards and similar contrivances. Spirits are sup- 
posed to be divested of physical forms and functions, and 
to be composed principally of thin air or some other ethereal 
wraith or form. They could not have much strength with 
which to handle heavy furniture, utter groans and do other 
things where physical force is needed. But this incon- 
gruity is easily explained by spiritualists. Granting that 
every mortal that passes into the great unknown is invested 
with an ethereal form, it would seem that the numberless 
spirits of the departed since the beginning would so fill 
the atmospheric belt surrounding the earth that we would 
be troubled to secure air for breathing purposes. It might 
be said that spirits are permitted to travel to the other 
worlds in the universe. That being true there would be 
some very long trips. It requires six thousands years for 
a ray of light to traverse the space between this world and 
a planet or star recently discovered by astronomers in their 
exhaustive search for new developments in the universe. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 191 



PROPOSITION NUMBER FORTY-EIGHT 

THAT CHRIST WAS THE GREATEST EXEMPLAR OF THE PRAYER 

METHOD OF SELF-DEVELOPMENT, AND HIS EXAMPLE 

SHOULD BE STRICTLY FOLLOWED BY ALL 

PERSONS DESIROUS OF DOING RIGHT 

TWO thousand years ago Christ, known as the Son of 
God, was born. Twenty-five hundred years have 
elapsed since Siddartha, the Hindu, gave Buddhism 
to the world, and fourteen hundred years have transpired 
since Mohammed, a Koreish camel driver, founded Islam, 
or Mohammedism. At that time civilization, as we know it, 
was in its infancy. Astronomy, geology, anthropology, sur- 
gery, medicine and practically all of the arts and sciences 
were unknown to the people of twenty centuries ago. The 
ocean was believed to be inhabited by amphibean monsters. 
Giants, fairies, goblins, ghosts and evil spirits were thought 
to be in existence, and compared to our present civilization 
the districts in which the three great religions were founded 
were like small islands in size and area located in a vast 
sea of barbaric vice and ignorance. In that remote age 
incidents and events not readily explainable by natural 
causes were attributed to supernatural influences. Heav- 
enly phenomena which now attract little or no attention 
were then believed to be warnings from God. Supposed 
miracles were of common occurence, and superstition 
aroused by ignorance was a dominant feature of public 
and private thought. Wise men were regarded as prophets 
and seers, and as there was no other means of circulating 
information of the various events that transpired, these 
mentors of public knowledge took the place of our modern 
printing presses and newspapers. 

The birth and career of Christ seem to have been accom- 
panied by more miracle happenings than announced the 



192 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

founding of the other two great religions. An angel and 
the star of Bethlehem proclaimed the birth of the Son of 
God, and from the time Christ began his work as a minister 
of the Gospel until the time he was said to have been taken 
up bodily by angels from the tomb in which his remains 
had been deposited after the crucifixion, Christ's life was 
a history of miraculous events. It is claimed that these 
miracles were demonstrations of the God-like power in- 
vested in Christ, and were shown as evidence of his saintly 
existence. Such evidence is not needed to convince readers 
of the scriptures of the unexampled excellence of the great 
Redeemer. Had the miracle happenings and the impossible 
conception and resurrection of Christ been omitted from the 
history of his life, the good work of the Redeemer would 
have been more acceptable to many modern readers. 

Were it possible for Christ to appear on earth today it 
would not be as the Son of God, and there would not be 
any miraculous events to publish. He would be given birth 
and be educated in the ordinary way all mankind are 
brought into the world and developed. And when his great 
mind had been filled with the necessary knowledge he would 
then began a crusade against inordinate greed, igno- 
ance and wrong doing that would shake the founda- 
tions of our social and political structure with fear and 
trembling. Christ was an extraordinary man in every sense 
of the word. He was sincere, true, faithful and earnest in 
thought and deed. His sublime teachings and precepts have 
done more to civilize humanity than has all other human 
effort combined. His career was short and glorious, and 
he laid the fundament of a religion that is destined to be- 
come a world-wide belief with unbounded salutary influ- 
ences. Christ was a mortal, a man of wonderful mental 
ability. His God-like attributes were natural, and were de- 
veloped free from the influences and temptations that beset 
most men who become evil-doers to a greater or less degree. 
The mental training of Christ was of an upward trend. In 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 193 

early life he must have been deeply interested in the wel- 
fare of his fellow beings, and that interest caused him to 
become a public exponent of right doing in every phase of 
that righteous declaration. It should be remembered that 
Christ lived in an age when right doing was an exception. 
The man who could openly defy and denounce wrong doing 
in that evil period would not only be considered a striking 
example of the principles which he advocated, and for 
which he lived, but he also would be made to suffer the 
consequences of his open defiance. 

Look the truth in the face and make the best of it. There 
is no personal God, and the life and death of Christ is 
evidence of that fact. There has never been an impregna- 
tion of a woman by divine conception. Such a thing would 
not be possible. Christ was a human being endowed with 
a wonderful mentality capable of development for right 
doing to an extraordinary degree. There was no divine 
mind for healing diseases during the time of Christ, nor 
has there ever been such a thing. There are no super- 
natural influences for the purpose of performing miracles, 
helping spirits to materialize, giving rappings and other 
unnatural doings. There positively is no way for the human 
mind to be dealt with, actuated or influenced except by the 
means provided by nature. It would be as difficult for one 
person to read or to actuate thought in the mind of an- 
other person as it would be to inject life into the stump of 
a tree with a syringe. Study the causes of thought, the 
physical construction of a brain organism, the character 
and uses of brain cell tissue, the anatomy of man and the 
functions of the sympathetic and cerebro-spinal systems, 
and you will agree with the above stated propositions. Man 
is an animal in structure, component parts and methods of 
existence. He is a creature of procreation, birth, life, death 
and dissolution by natural methods. There could be no 
deviation from this immutable, inexorable law of nature. 
God has no more to do with controlling the incidents and 



194 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

vicissitudes of human life than He has with governing the 
swell of the ocean, or the growth of a flower, or anything 
else in nature. 

Christ developed his mentality in the same way every 
human being must or should acquire strength and ability for 
right doing. It is stated in the scriptures that Christ pleaded 
for God's strength when on the cross. Prayer was un- 
doubtedly the uplifting force that stimulated the develop- 
ment of Christ's mentality. We may not all possess the 
wonderful cellular activities that caused Christ to be such 
a marvelous example of right doing, but we can all help 
ourselves to become better men and women by adopting and 
using the same influence, prayer, that Christ advocated as 
a means of salvation. 






FINDING THE REAL GOD 195 



PROPOSITION NUMBER FORTY-NINE 

THAT DEFORMED AND CRIPPLED PEOPLE WHO CAME INTO THE 
WORLD IN THAT CONDITION ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE 
FOR THEIR MISFORTUNES, AND THAT IT IS THE 
DUTY OF EVERY PERSON TO MAKE THEIR BUR- 
DENS AS LIGHT AS POSSIBLE BY SHOWING THEM 
ATTENTION, AND BY ASSISTING THEM TO LOOK 
ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE 

FEW people escape misfortune in some form or nature. 
It frequently befalls us when least expected, and 
then the blow seems more serious. But the most 
painful and distressing misfortune is that of being born 
crippled, or deformed. To come into the world in such 
a lamentable condition is to be doomed to a sad, melancholy 
life. Such a fate should awaken sympathy for the victim, 
and cause an especial effort to lighten the burden of the 
unfortunate person, should such a thing be possible. To 
be misshapen even slightly is a misfortune that weighs on 
the mind and creates mental distress. Self -comparison with 
shapely and good-looking, well developed people is always 
a punishment, worse than could be inflicted by ordinary 
means. Then, there is the never ceasing, always evident 
regret for having been unsightly, and unfit for social hon- 
ors. Unfortunately, a person physically deformed usually 
possesses a misdirected intellect. It could not be otherwise. 
Constantly brooding over a misfortune, must necessarily 
train the mind accordingly. We seldom find sunshine in 
mental gloom. There could not be genuine joy where 
sorrow prevails. 

It is natural for us to admire beauty, manly strength, 
and physical fitness of any kind. A beautiful girl is almost 
worshipped. The big, manly athlete becomes a great favor- 
ite, and the poor cripple, whose only attribute is his men- 



196 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

tality, passes unnoticed, or with only a glance of contempt. 
There have been cripples and deformed people who have 
overcome the shock of their misfortunes and have developed 
into active, prominent, reputable citizens, not because of 
their deformity, but for the reason that their mentalities 
were not deformed. The mentality makes the man. His 
bodily belongings do not control, or influence his conduct. 
Success does not wear a beautiful face, or display a manly 
form. It is not a pink tea acquisition, or a favored exhibit 
at a beauty show. Success in any walk of life must be won 
by mental endeavor. The successful person may have an 
ugly countenance, or be hunch-backed, but his mentality 
will be worth having, because it develops good sense, men- 
tal vigor and successful thoughts and deeds. That is why 
we should encourage crippled and deformed people, and 
help them win life's battles. A little sunshine in the way of 
a smile of recognition or a short pleasant talk would dispel 
much of the mental gloom caused by their misfortune. 

Answer this vital question. If we are controlled by a 
personal God, who watches over our welfare, why does He 
permit unfortunate cripples and deformed infants to be born 
into the world? There are many similar queries that could 
be suggested, but the one of permitting unfortunates to 
come into the world, not of their own volition, but by the 
consent of a personal God, seems to be the most important. 
The proper answer to the question is that frequently it is the 
fault of the parents. But if we have a personal God, who 
lends His efforts to money-makers, to divine healers, to 
spiritual mediums, to people who pray to him and rely on 
His supernatural power, why should this same God suffer 
little crippled and deformed children to be born, and become 
objects of pity and repulsiveness. Look at life, God's in- 
fluence, and all else connected with earthly creations from 
a common sense viewpoint. There is no personal God, no 
supernatural influence, no power except our own that pro- 
creates, or that controls and influences our earthly welfare. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 197 

We may go into a church and see that it is painted white. 
How long would a preacher have to pray to change the 
color, unless repainted by the hand of man? There is no 
difference between praying for help to stop the ravages of 
war, or of sin, or anything else, and praying to change the 
color of the church. They are all of a physical nature, and 
so is everything else in creation. Our mentalities are phys- 
ical thinking machines. The brain of a horse, or a dog 
or a cat is not capable of thinking; but the five senses 
arouse its activities in the same manner the five senses 
actuate our mentalities. The only difference between our 
mentalities and the brain organs of other vertebrates is that 
we possess the sense of intellectuality. 



198 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER FIFTY 

THAT THERE IS A METHOD OF REGENERATING THE MENTAL- 
ITY THAT WILL FREE IT FROM THE CONTROL OF BAD 
HABITS AND CAUSE ITS POSSESSOR TO RECOVER 
HIS MENTAL STRENGTH AND VIGOR 

THOSE of us who have overindulged our desires for 
fast living, or who have acquired habits that threaten 
our comfort, health and happiness, may find a way 
to overcome the cause of our troubles by recovering the 
control of our mentalities. The method to be employed, 
when explained, will seem simple and easy, but it will re- 
quire fortitude and stamina to continue and cause the 
method to accomplish its purpose. Overcoming and aban- 
doning bad habits is like segregating ourselves from a part 
of our existence. It is easier to contemplate than to do. 

It has been claimed, several times, in this series of prop- 
ositions that the mentality is the man. In the process for 
regenerating a mentality, that part of it which prompts 
wrong doing must be subjugated, and its ability to influence 
the man to do wrong must be subdued. Bad habits are a 
serious form of wrong doing. A man may steal or commit 
almost any form of crime without impairing his health. 
On the contrary, bad habits are an insidious practice and 
not only impair physical health, but also destroy men- 
tal vigor and bring on infirmities that might have been 
avoided. Ridding one's self of bad habits necessitates the 
overcoming of influences that have become fixtures in both 
mind and body, and, therefore, it is a task that requires 
patience and self-denial, attributes seldom possessed by 
people who have lost self-control by submitting to the in- 
fluence of bad habits. 

Changing a mental control for wrong doing, and upbuild- 
ing an influence for right doing that will dominate the 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 199 

workings of mentality, are accomplished by strengthening a 
desire for right living, right thinking and right doing. 
Thought, desires, impulses, acts and deeds are creations 
of mental effort, mental force. These creations may be 
developed for right or for wrong doing. They may upbuild 
our welfare, or they may destroy it. That depends upon 
our mental control. If our mentalities are controlled for 
wrong doing, as is done when we are victims of bad habits, 
then both mental and physical health are in danger. When 
we do right, the conditions are altered. The desire to in- 
dulge bad habits, like other forms of wrong doing, has been 
overcome by creating a better, stronger desire for right 
doing. 

Life is the Creator, to the best of our knowledge, of all 
things in existence. It may be our God, whom we worship, 
our Heavenly Father, to whom we offer prayers, our Divine 
Being, or the Divine or Infinite Mind. That is neither here 
nor there. We understand and know life. We also under- 
stand and know that without life we could not exist, and 
it is to life, as our God, that we should bend our knees and 
implore assistance to overcome wrong doing. Also, for 
mental and physical strength and vigor, that we may achieve 
our own good fortune. Prayer that is devout, sincere, earn- 
est and honest must be our means of beseeching strength 
and guidance. Prayer will upbuild and strengthen a desire 
for right doing. It will create a mental ability to abandon 
bad habits, and it will afford strength to recover our own 
self-respect. We shall not be disappointed when entering 
upon a campaign of prayer for strength to do right, if that 
campaign is fought vigorously, earnestly and honestly. 



200 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER FIFTY-ONE 

THAT DREAMS ARE MENTAL ACTIVITIES NOT UNDER GOOD CON- 
TROL. THEY ARE MEANINGLESS EXCEPT IN ONE PAR- 
TICULAR : THEY INDICATE DISORDERS IN ONE OR 
MORE OF OUR DIGESTIVE, CIRCULATORY, 
OR RESPIRATORY FUNCTIONS 

DREAMS are nothing but rambling thoughts not under 
effective control. We dream when in a semi-con- 
scious state, and in our waking moments. We could 
not dream when asleep. The mentality at that time is dor- 
mant, except such of its activities as involuntarily control 
the functions of the organs of respiration, circulation and 
digestion. These cellular activities are governed by what is 
known as our sympathetic nervous system. The mental, or 
thought activities that do the dreaming, when not under 
proper control, belong to the cerebro-spinal system, which 
presides over the animal functions of sensation, motion and 
intellect and comprises all the nervous or cellular or- 
gans concerned in sensation, volition and mental action. The 
cerebro-spinal system is dormant when we sleep. Should 
we dream, it is because the respiratory, circulatory, or digest- 
ive organs of the sympathetic system do not function prop- 
erly, and they keep the thought activities disturbed. People 
who think that dreams have a meaning are right in one par- 
ticular. It is time to send for a doctor. The cause may be 
a bad heart action, trouble in breathing, or indigestion or 
failure to assimilate food. 

Dreams should be relegated to the category of the im- 
possible or supernatural mental creations. There could be 
no dreaming, no semi-conscious state, no rambling thought 
if the organs of our nervous system functioned properly. 
There is nothing in a dream but lack of mental control. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 201 

Were it not for an ability to control our mental activities 
we would be constantly dreaming. Imagination or day 
dreaming is naught but thought-wandering, guided by a 
willing mental control, which enables us to take a fancied 
trip to heaven and back in less than two seconds, if our time 
is limited. Semi-comatose dreams are imaginative flicker- 
ings without the guidance of the willing mental control. 
They never disturb us when there is mental force to keep 
our thoughts from wandering, and a dream may seem a 
night-time long when it results from the effort of a digestive 
organ to rid an overfilled stomach of a fat, hearty supper. 

It seems like an indeterminable task to divest ourselves of 
the impression that the mind is guided by an unknown 
influence, and that thought is always the forerunner of 
misfortune. Dreams and impressions exercise a baneful in- 
fluence on many lives. As a matter of fact they are harm- 
less fancies in most instances, and should never be given 
credit for being anything more than the offshoots of floating 
thought. That statement does not refer to conclusions 
drawn from mental comparison and study of specified sub- 
jects. We are considering dreams, either semi-conscious or 
freaks of the imagination, both of which create impressions 
and are frequently taken for guides to control our conduct. 

Cellular activities, from which we derive thought, result 
from mental development and training. This development, 
and training dates back to the creation of man, and has 
been brought forward to the present time, and will con- 
tinue to be brought forward by the process of procreation 
as long as man exists. The germ of life impregnated by 
parents, and which gives existence to children, comprises 
all the elements of ancestral development not extinguished 
by former mental training. In short, the brain organism 
which we inherit contains the mental records of our lives, 
and these records may only be changed by our individual 
effort. We may become better or worse people than were 
our ancestors. That will depend on our own mental train- 



202 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

ing and the manner in which the cells of our inherited brain 
organisms are developed. 

During the countless ages of ancestral training, thought 
and other intellectual functions have been upbuilded from 
a primal state to their present highly developed condition. 
Physical functions have not reached so high a degree of de- 
velopment, because of their natural restrictions. But by a 
long process of training our movements have been made 
more graceful, and our forms, figures and methods of living 
are more pleasing and satisfactory. There has been nothing 
unnatural, extraordinary or mysterious in this upgrowth 
and development of man. It has been gradual, steady and 
normal. Generations have progressed in physical and men- 
tal attainments in the same manner that individuals acquire 
learning and physical accomplishments during mortal exist- 
ence. Each generation has taken care of itself, and then 
handed down to its successors the fruits of its endeavors 
by means of procreation. Among the benefactions transmit- 
ted in this way have been our thought functions, our men- 
tal activities and the means of controlling them. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 203 



PROPOSITION NUMBER FIFTY-TWO 

THAT ALL PROPHECIES AND PREDICTIONS NOT BASED ON 
MATHEMATICAL CALCULATIONS OR RELIABLE, FIRST- 
HAND INFORMATION ARE PURELY GUESS- 
WORK AND A WASTE OF MEN- 
TAL ENERGY 

THE old-time prophets, who once thrived on earth, 
have either died or have lost their hold on the public 
since the advent of the telegraph, telephone, rapid 
transit, and other facilities for obtaining quick service on 
information. Occasionally a zealot will figure out a predic- 
tion, after consulting biblical traditions, and will have it 
published. By the time the dire happening is to take place, 
the zealot and the public have lost interest in the predic- 
tion, and the pesky thing never comes true. Now and then, 
another breed of prophets rises up and fixes the date for 
the world to come to an end. But the world keeps moving 
on just the same, and the mental spasm of the prophet-seers 
is soon forgotten. When the world comes to an end, there 
will be very few prophets left to witness the spectacle. Man 
will have been very dead before that event, so dead that 
there will be no need for a funeral. Nothwithstanding pre- 
dictions to the contrary, the world will continue to exist 
many, many more centuries, unless scientists who have been 
studying its progress and probable future are badly mis- 
taken. Meantime man will be climbing upward in physical 
and mental worth. He will stop listening to false prophets 
and other humbugs who deal in the supernatural, and pay 
more attention to stern realities. 

The prophets that seem in greatest favor are those men- 
tioned in the bible. Students of that sacred volume are con- 
stantly referring to Daniel, Elijah and others of biblical 
fame whenever some great event transpires to see if these 



204 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

happenings were not predicted. There have been prophecies 
and prophets, predictions and seers, since man has been able 
to think and devise. The bible age is not an exception to 
this general rule. But prophecies are not so popular in this 
day of greater and more advanced intellectual attainment. 
Modern people think for themselves, and do not rely on the 
forecast of events by self-affirmed prophets. Bible students 
who have convinced themselves that every word in that 
work is truth irrefutable should endeavor to think that 
there are brighter minds and better means of employing 
thought today than there were in bible times. To be con- 
stantly living in the past is not a commendable feature of 
any person's life. The bible is the work of men who existed 
thousands of years ago. They were then controlled and in- 
fluenced by conditions that would be impossible in this day 
and age. Prophecies in bible days were a means of attract- 
ing public attention, and of intimidating and coercing certain 
people. Prophecies were methods of accomplishing desired 
results. Today, prophecies exercise no influence except over 
ignorant minds. 

It is difficult to convince most people that bible lore is 
entirely human thought. The impression prevails that it is 
divine inspiration, and that a personal God influenced the 
authors of its contents. Nothing could be further from fact. 
If God inspires worthy, instructive, uplifting thought and 
deeds, a contrary destructive influence must also cause 
man to destroy both himself and God's creations whenever 
that influence sees fit to control him. To put the question 
plainly, man must necessarily be under the control of either 
God or Satan. There is neither reason nor good sense in 
such a proposition. To affirm that the Creator of the uni- 
verse is in constant conflict for the control of man's men- 
tality is an insult to the author of our existence. God did 
not inspire the bible, nor does He influence human thought. 
Prophecies and predictions of every kind are creations of 
mental activities. The same may be said of every word 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 205 

printed in the bible. That statement does not signify that 
such parts of the bible as relate to right living and right 
doing should not be considered as a rule and guide for our 
conduct. The bible is a good book, but its prophecies are 
no more valuable or reliable than the statements of any 
other intelligent publication. 



206 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



PROPOSITION NUMBER FIFTY-THREE 

THAT WE MUST BANISH SUPERSTITION AND THOUGHTS OF 
ATTAINING IMMORTALITY BY LUCK OR CHANCE, AND 
RESORT TO PRACTICAL METHODS AND EF- 
FORTS TO PREPARE OURSELVES FOR 
THE GREAT UNKNOWN 

FOR evidence of the satisfactory methods employed 
in the business world to upbuild and develop every 
branch of trade known to commerce, study the his- 
tory of any successful, widely known concern, and it will 
be found that the various changes and improvements that 
brought about the prosperity were made to keep pace with 
the progress, conditions and mutations of the times. Men 
with keen, active, practical minds are continually devising 
methods and means to meet the demands created by these 
changes, and the firm or house that fails to adopt these 
improvements to supply the wants of customers is doomed 
to loss of trade, decadence and eventual failure. This per- 
sistent upgrowth of business wisdom and sagacity does not 
apply to the practices and managerial conduct of the relig- 
ious world. Scientific research and investigation have dis- 
credited much of the biblical fiction, and the good sense of 
many people has discarded as impossible the claim that 
God protects and guides us during mortal life. Recent 
thought and conviction have caused other people to cease 
church worship and associate themselves with semi- 
religious fads and devotional delusions, because they felt 
that the old church practices were not in keeping with 
modern progress. This apparent relapse from the old-time 
religious faith could not have become so popular had the 
claim that God controls us been a fact. Nor would it ever 
have existed had the church officials revised their creeds 
and doctrines to meet modern demands. The same keen, 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 207 

sagacious business sense that has kept the business world 
to the forefront should have been employed in keeping 
alive and active the church organizations. Old-fashioned 
buggies do not sell very well in modern times; neither is 
there an active demand for the old hallelujah sermons. 

The mission of the religious organizations of today 
should be to strengthen public and personal morals, pre- 
serve peace and good will among all people, assist in de- 
veloping educational and intellectual influences, revise relig- 
ious teachings that they may conform to known fact and 
actual conditions, upbuild sentiment for abstention from 
excessive indulgences, extravagant habits and the accumu- 
lation of immoderate fortunes. That would mean nothing 
more than the development of a mind for right doing. When 
that was done generally, bad habits and objectionable, harm- 
ful practices would cease. But that great public good will 
never come as long as churches advocate and uphold super- 
stition, misbelief and biblical fiction. That part of the 
bible which relates to history, fact, and the upbuilding of 
morals should be retained and advocated as religious decla- 
rations. All else should be suppressed as harmful and mis- 
leading. 

The harm done by advocating a belief in a personal God, 
who with His only begotten Son controls and guides our 
mortal existence, is almost unexplainable. That, and the 
christian church worship of apostles and saints, together 
with the faith in a spiritual life, are the cause of the main- 
tenance of many forms of superstition, belief in spirits, for- 
tune telling, christian science, clairvoyance, telepathy, mind 
reading and similar mental fabulations. These relapses 
from sane thought also encourage a belief in games of 
chance, lotteries and other means of squandering time, op- 
portunity and money. There is likely to be faith in luck, 
or chance, as long as it is supported by religious worship. 
Our belief in God's guidance and in immortality is like 
taking a chance on these events. There positively is no 



208 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

method of substantiating such a belief either by fact or 
experience. Superstition or any other form of belief in 
luck or chance hinders the development of practical 
thought. It stagnates the mind and limits mental activity. 
Taking a chance on the acquirement of anything tangible 
or intangible, any earthly good fortune, or any spiritual at- 
tainment is like putting aside opportunity for the purpose of 
trying to grasp substance from the air. Nothing but dis- 
ease, death and heirlooms fall to thoughtless, impractical 
people. Even heaven is not available unless we prepare our- 
selves for the transcendency, and that would mean work 
and self-denial. There will be no luck or chance in winning 
immortality. A superstitious belief in God's guidance and 
protection will not fit us for that benefaction. Nothing but 
clean lives and exemplary habits will entitle us to that 
final glorification. For that reason we must resort to prac- 
tical thought as a means of preparing ourselves for the 
great unknown, unknowable future. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 209 



PROPOSITION NUMBER FIFTY-FOUR 

THAT CHANGES ARE NEEDED IN THE CREEDS, DOCTRINES AND 
DECLARATIONS OF OUR SEVERAL RELIGIOUS ORGANIZA- 
TIONS TO ENABLE THEM TO REGAIN POPULAR FAVOR 
AND BECOME INSTRUMENTS OF GREATER GOOD 

IT IS not necessary to consider the discontinuance of 
radical changing of any form of religious belief when 
eradicating faults and practices that render it unpopu- 
lar, or that cause it to become more or less ineffective in 
promoting human welfare. A religious organization that 
has grown in strength and number, and which can be made 
a powerful influence for common good, should never be 
disrupted. But there are times in the existence of any 
belief, or religion, when popular approval must be won by 
certain changes in creed, doctrine and practice, or there 
will be danger of its dissolution. The three great religions, 
Christianity, Islam and Buddhism, are faulty in practice 
and conception, and therefore need correcting. Buddhism 
does not recognize a Supreme Creator, or God, and has for 
its chief reason for existence a belief in the transmigration 
of souls after each successive mortality. The followers of 
Islam, or Mohammedism, believe in paradise and hell, and 
that there will be a general resurrection. All Christians wor- 
ship God, and believe that salvation must come through 
Christ, the Son of God, and that there are a heaven and a 
hell. In all probability Islam, or "acceptance of the divine 
will," as it is interpreted, was copied after the creeds of 
both the Jewish and Christian religions, although Moham- 
med regarded Christ as a prophet and apostle in the same 
light as he looked upon Abraham, Moses and other biblical 
patriarchs, and not as the Son of God. Islam was founded 
about six hundred years after the crucifixion of Christ. 
There can be no doubt as to the origin of the three great 



210 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

religions, as well as all other religious beliefs. Buddhism 
was conceived by Siddhartha, a Hindu prince, about 
twenty-five hundred years ago. Islam owes its existence to 
Mohammed, a Koreish camel driver. The origin of Chris- 
tianity is well known to readers. History states that each 
of these religions was crude and rudimentary when first 
established, and that changes and alterations in doctrine 
and practice have been made to meet the demands of fol- 
lowers as time elapsed. But the fundamental doctrine or 
belief has not been tampered with, or the religion would 
not now be in existence. The Buddhistic belief in eternal 
life by means of procreation seems to be popular. The 
theory of transmigration of souls made in accordance with 
the mental development of the person at the time of the 
demise is not reasonable. Should the person be worthy, 
his soul would be transferred to an infant capable of 
being developed to a higher state of being. On the other 
hand, if the life of the person was bestial and unworthy 
the soul might possibly enter into animal existence. Islam 
is made popular by the promise of joyful immortal tran- 
scendency, also that all followers who sacrifice life in holy 
wars are immediately transcended to that happy state of 
eternal joy. Other Mohammedans must take their chances 
of pleasing the God they worship. It will be either paradise 
or hell for them. Christianity is the most civilized and 
acceptable of the three religions, and its followers repre- 
sent the highest type of the human race. But Christianity 
and all other beliefs and doctrines need revising that un- 
reasonable, unbelievable theories may be eliminated. Trans- 
migration of souls, paradise with its eternal joy, and heaven 
with its everlasting bliss are pleasing to contemplate, but 
they are figments of the imagination and may prove to be 
disappointments. There is no warranted proof of their ex- 
istence, although there is room in the great universe for 
both heaven and hell. 

The foundation, underlying principle, and main support 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 211 

of every religious belief should be the promotion and up- 
building of individual and public welfare. The immortal 
future will be the reward of mortal worthiness if such a 
state of existence is available. Religions that promise future 
transcendencies are not reliable. Mortal life has its limita- 
tions and knowledge of a future existence is beyond our 
comprehension. A personal God that would inspire pro- 
phecies, transfer souls, make angels out of Mohammedans 
who had killed Christians, or send an angel to con- 
ceive a woman that a divine son might be born would 
long since have given us information about heaven and 
hell, were such a thing possible. To be consistent and sensi- 
ble we should put aside thought and belief in God's assist- 
ance, guidance, control or position in mankind's affairs, 
and busy ourselves with working out methods and plans 
for our own salvation. God does not, has not, and will not 
communicate with us in any shape, form or manner. As 
mortals we are in supreme control of earthly creations, and 
the progress, upbuilding and welfare of these creations 
depend on our own mental development for right doing. 
When we do right and are happy, peaceful and contented, 
other earthly creations will add their bounties to enlarge 
and strengthen the volume of our own prosperity. This 
mental upgrowth for the good of the world will receive 
God's sanction. It was His endowment of a super-intellect 
at the time of our creation that has given us possession of 
the world. 

Religious belief is not controlled or influenced by divine 
power. It is absolutely the handiwork of man, and was de- 
vised, changed, altered, and fitted into the grooves of vari- 
ous imaginations. That part of it which relates to intel- 
lectual, moral and physical development should be retained, 
strengthened and made more useful. Extreme care should 
be exercised in upholding and upbuilding the belief in a 
Supreme Creator. That part of our religious doctrines 
and creeds that affirms and declares faith in God's guidance 



212 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

and control, as also the resurrection, baptism, worship of 
saints, apostolic belief, divine inspiration and other forms 
of religious declarations that cannot be established as fact, 
should be eradicated and discarded. 

As individuals we are units of human life. Each indi- 
vidual is independent in mental and physical activities, and 
.can have no communication with another individual except 
in the manner prescribed by natural laws. But we can act 
together for mutual good. Our religious worship and or- 
ganizations were created for that purpose. Through that 
influence we may put down harmful superstition and simi- 
lar imaginary belief. We could crush attempts to belittle 
the majesty of God by the assumption of His name and 
divinity for pecuniary benefit. We could advocate and 
strengthen the desire for right living, right thinking, and 
right doing. We could devote our lives and our efforts 
for the good of humanity, both as individuals and in com- 
bination. All this might be accomplished through the in- 
fluence of our present religious organizations by eliminating 
the false from the true, by separating the right from the 
wrong, by segregating the good from the evil, and by 
eradicating harmful principles from those that are bene- 
ficial. Such changes would make the world better and add 
strength and vigor to religious belief. It would also en- 
courage thoughtless, skeptical, non-interested people to 
join in the work of raising the mental, moral and intel- 
lectual standard of mankind. 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 213 



PROPOSITION NUMBER FIFTY-FIVE 

THAT TWO WELL KNOWN MENTAL FORCES, HOPE AND FEAR, 
HAVE HAD MUCH TO DO WITH RELEASING MANKIND FROM 
THE THRALDOM OF SIN AND WICKEDNESS. THE HOPE OF 
IMMORTALITY AS A REWARD FOR RIGHT DOING, AND 
THE FEAR OF ETERNAL PUNISHMENT FOR ACTS OF 
WRONG DOING, EXERCISE A MORE POWERFUL IN- 
FLUENCE FOR HUMAN REDEMPTION THAN PUL- 
PIT ORATORY. THAT WE MUST LOOK TO LIFE 
FOR THE IMMORTAL TRANSCENDENCY. 
LIFE IS OUR CREATOR AND IS IMMORTAL 
AND CANNOT BE DESTROYED 

THE statement has been made that the most potent 
factor employed by missionaries in the conversion 
of aborigines to the christian faith is the distribution 
and explanation of gaudily colored picture cards depicting 
heaven and hell. Heaven with its winged angels clad in 
white robes apparently enjoying an easy, saintly existence, 
and hell with its eternal flaming fires in which sinners are 
being toasted by hideous-looking devils armed with long 
seven-pronged forks, are more convincing proof of the 
need of "joining" than bible argument. There are many 
civilized people who believe in the existence of heaven 
and hell, and who think that all that is required to land 
them in the realm of bliss is strict church attendance, and 
a rigid observance of Sunday as a day of prayer and fast- 
ing. The argument that the bible is the work of man is as 
ineffective in convincing them of that fact as an effort 
would be to talk the ocean into a calm of everlasting peace 
and quiet. Such remarkable faith in religious belief must 
result from a fixed determination to remain ignorant of 
intellectual progress. The world to them is still a great flat 
surface floating in the ethereal. 



214 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

Mankind has never had positive information concerning 
the existence of either heaven or hell. Mortal knowledge 
and power of comprehension end with death. The un- 
known beyond is silence and darkness to every human be- 
ing. It would be oblivion were it not for our faith and be- 
lief in immortality. Death is much like the coma produced 
by an anaesthetic, except possibly a momentary delirium 
before life departs. The immortal future and eternal dam- 
nation are suppositous conditions that owe their existence 
to religious declarations. We know nothing, absolutely 
nothing definite and positive concerning such alleged future 
means of reward and punishment. 

The same may be said of a personal God whom we de- 
voutly worship. It is claimed that such a God communi- 
cated with patriarchs and prophets of bible days, and 
that He sent His only begotten Son, Christ, to earth to 
save mankind. That may be true, but where is the evidence 
substantiating such a claim? The world is as much in 
need of God's wisdom and presence now as it was during 
bible times. Why does God withhold his presence from 
humanity at this day and age? It may be said that the 
precepts handed down by Christ are to be considered as 
God's word of wisdom and comfort, and that they should 
become law and gospel for our guidance. Two thirds of 
humanity do not believe that Christ was the Son of God, 
and will not accept his teachings for their rule and guide. 
They have religious beliefs of their own which differ from 
the christian faith, and they prefer to cling to their own 
forms of religion. According to missionary information 
this majority of humanity is in religious mental darkness, 
dense, deep and distressing, and is in great need of relief. 
Surely, the personal God must know of this woeful con- 
dition, and should communicate with the leaders of the 
contending religious factions and start them on the right 
road to salvation. If the personal God appeared in olden 
times to give needed counsel and advice, why does He not 






FINDING THE REAL GOD 215 

either come again or send His Son to extend salvation 
to that part of mankind which is benighted and sinful? 

That question is put plainly, fairly, squarely in order to 
emphasize the fact that God never has made Himself 
known to humanity. A personal God who would act as 
man's guide, tutor, adviser, servant, protector, and savior 
has never had an existence. He dwells only in the minds 
of intensely religious people who are afraid to think dif- 
ferently. Such a God is not needed for the salvation of 
mankind, were His existence possible. There is no per- 
sonal God subject to our beck and call such as is lauded 
and worshipped by certain devotional people. Every 
sane individual in the civilized world possesses the ability 
to take care of himself, provide for those dependent on 
him, and prepare himself for immortality. He was en- 
dowed through the process of procreation with the germ of 
life that was originally bestowed on man by God, the 
Creator, and that germ places man at the head of the ani- 
mal kingdom, and defines his position as God's chosen 
earthly creation. 

The germ of life bestowed by the Creator carries with it 
to each successive generation the endowment of a super- 
mentality, or mind, that is capable of development for good 
or evil purposes. That germ invests man with power to do 
right or wrong, and to control the world and its sub-crea- 
tions accordingly. It is presumed that God, the Creator, 
expected man to upbuild the world and convert it into 
an earthly paradise, but before that may be done man must 
first regenerate himself, that his deeds may be worthy of 
divine commendation. 

There is a God, but not the God who is alleged to deal 
with us personally. The God of the universe is a Creator, 
and not a meddler in human affairs. God, the Creator, is 
not the Divine Father to whom we attribute our blessings, 
victories, fortunes and other emoluments that contribute to 
our prosperity. There is no such personal God, or there 



216 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

would not be so much distress and misery to counterbal- 
ance the good we enjoy. As individuals we create our 
own pleasures and pain, our own fortunes and misfortunes, 
our own mirth and misery and our own wealth and poverty. 
These conditions are voluntary or involuntary according to 
the circumstances surrounding them. But they are all hu- 
man creations, and are caused by mental activities. They 
spring from our deeds and acts of right or wrong doing, 
and their fountain head is the germ of mortal life endowed 
by the Creator. 

Salvation and immortality depend entirely upon the 
survival of the germ of life, bestowed by our Creator, 
when the time comes for our demise. Should that germ 
perish with our bodies there could be no future salvation. 
We owe our mortal existence to its influence, and should 
it be destroyed there could be no immortality. The Creator 
has provided a way for the continuance of mortal existence 
through the process of procreation. Our mortal lives are 
reproduced by the birth and development of progeny, but 
that method of recreating does not meet the requirements 
of an immortal transcendency. The solution of that prob- 
lem is still to be considered. 

There could be no soul, or semblance of our mortal ex- 
istence, because our physical beings are composed of flesh, 
blood, bone, tissue and sinew, all of which is perishable 
and which disintegrates and returns to dust after death. 
Immortality and the record of our thoughts, acts and deeds 
must then depend on the survival of the germ of life, which 
not only is the cause of our mortal existence, but also 
affords us the ability to procreate and fill the world with 
human beings. Life is indestructible. A certain peculiar 
form of existence may be destroyed, but the life that caused 
the growth and maturity of that particular form never 
perishes. Matter, substance, or tangible things may be de- 
stroyed by the processes of nature, but life continues in- 
definitely. When mortal death ensues, life departs from 



'■ FINDING THE REAL GOD 217 

our bodies. That is the end of our earthly existence. But 
it is not the end of the life that caused our animate exis- 
tence. The same life that energized our mental and physi- 
cal abilities also actuated the mentalities that prompted our 
thoughts, impulses, acts and deeds for both right and wrong 
doing. That life does not perish when death claims our 
physical beings. 

We do not know what, after death, becomes of the par- 
ticular spark of life that inspired each individual existence, 
but we do know that life is an independent, indestructible 
power or influence, which keeps the activities of this world 
and probably of the universe moving in accordance with 
the ordinances of a Divine Creator. 

Should Life be our Creator, our God of the universe, 
the God who has inspired our existence as individuals, we 
then may be assured of immortality, provided our lives 
have been worthy. The record will be in the keeping of 
God, the Creator, because He was the inspiration of our 
mortal being, through the influence of the germ of life 
with which we were endowed. The transcendency from 
mortality to immortality would be simple, practical and 
possible. If worthy of that final salvation, Life, our Crea- 
tor, would transfer us as individuals to a higher state of 
existence at the time of the mortal dissolution. Immor- 
tality would then be the gift of our Creator. 

We know that Life, the Creator, is eternal, immortal and 
everlasting. The universe and the continuous upbuilding 
and destruction- of its countless worlds are evidence of that 
fact. Life creates and sustains the worlds until decadence 
and disintegration take place. That is the process of all 
nature, of which Life is the Creator. Wherever there is 
existence there is life, and Life, the Creator, is the inspira- 
tion of everything animate and inert. Therefore Life is 
immortal and cannot be destroyed. Life is endless and will 
endure forever. Consider immortal transcendency from 
the standpoint of human comprehension. The germ of life 



218 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

with which mankind was endowed inspires, enlivens and 
sustains super-activities not found in other creations. 
Among these mental activities is a belief in immortality 
to be obtained by an existence of right doing. As hereto- 
fore explained, the only way immortality could be bestowed 
would be through the medium of the germ that inspired 
the worthy activities. The survival of that germ and its 
return to Life, or God, the Creator, would achieve immor- 
tality and accomplish the purpose for which the germ of 
life was bestowed on humanity. Immortality would be a 
fitting end to a mortal existence of usefulness and well 
doing. 



Finding the Real God 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 221 



FINDING THE REAL GOD: 

FIRST PART 

THERE would be little difficulty in finding the real 
God if we could overcome our desires to be controlled 
by supernatural influences. It is a tendency to be 
seeking the unreal, the impossible, that causes us to bow 
our heads to a myth-God, a deity that has no existence. We 
might better worship a wooden idol than to pray to a myth- 
God. That form of worship would not harm us, if our 
thoughts were for right doing. But worshipping a myth-God 
from whom we expect personal benefactions incites a belief 
in the supernatural, and creates a desire to pray for guid- 
ance, and protection, in all of our business and personal 
undertakings. Seeking the real God is entirely a different 
matter. 

Worshipping a myth-God enforces a constant, persistent 
method of mental training that creates a belief in the un- 
real, which in time becomes a mental habit. A life effort 
consists of a series of mental training for either right or 
wrong doing. Should any particular feature of this train- 
ing be continued for a considerable length of time, it finally 
becomes a habit. The minister of the gospel preaches cer- 
tain doctrines through habit and believes in them because 
of his mental training. Persistent, fervent prayer for any 
purpose eventually becomes a habit. If we pray constantly 
for right doing, we are sure to do right, through the means 
of mental habit. Should we continue the use of foul lan- 
guage, or drink, smoke or do other reprehensible acts, we 
inevitably acquire the habit. If we read novels, or fritter 
away our time, the habit is soon acquired. Practicing on a 
musical instrument, or working at a mechanical trade, is 
made a habit in time. Walking without mental effort to 



222 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

guide our footsteps is a habit. Talking without apparent 
thought, and many other things we become accustomed to 
doing, are habits acquired by mental training. We have 
acquired the habit of praying for unrealities, and that is 
why the myth-God has obtained such a control over our 
thoughts and deeds. We are always looking for something 
from heaven to help us achieve success. 

It has long been a mystery to many thinking people why 
mankind clings to the theory that God answers prayers, 
when there is no convincing proof of such a blessing. Habit, 
habit is the answer. All of our religious doctrines, creeds 
and theories are based on that proposition. Any theory that 
opposes such a belief will be regarded as rank sacrilege. 
We have acquired the habit of looking to God, the Creator, 
for guidance and protection in our worldly affairs, and 
that is the end of the discussion, so far as public interest 
is concerned. Any argument to the contrary is not wel- 
comed. Understand plainly and emphatically, that no de- 
nial is made of the existence of God, and His wonderful 
creations. There has been no trusting to luck in the creation 
of the universe and its belongings, no chance methods 
employed in that marvelous undertaking. Our own world, 
with its kingdoms of life and activity, is proof sufficient 
that we are creatures of God's handiwork. But there is 
no good reason why we should regard God as a servant, 
because we owe our existence to His beneficence. On the 
contrary, we should worship God as a Sublime Deity, 
and not as a personal ruler whose duty it is to overlook 
our worldly domain and make sure that we are rich and 
prosperous. 

Let us see what we expect of God. Religious habit, ac- 
quired by thousands of years of custom, has caused us to 
look upon God both as a Creator and an overseer of our 
worldly welfare. We have been taught to pray to God for 
personal and public protection. Our church and other relig- 
ious creeds instruct us to do so. Public and personal prayers 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 223 

are offered for freedom from all forms of evil. When 
several countries wage war against each other, each side 
of the warlike conflict proclaims that God is its champion 
and protector, and that victory will be won in His name. 
When the war is over proclamations are published by the 
victorious country thanking God for the strength and 
power to conquer the enemy, always forgetting that vic- 
tory invariably perches on the banners of the strongest, 
best equipped armies, commanded by superior officers. 
When there is drouth, church congregations and people 
residing in the dry district, beseech God for rain. When 
there is a disastrous fire that consumes property, God is 
implored to stop its havoc. When there is a flood, a plague, 
or any other great disaster, people go on their knees to 
pray for relief from its ravages. When afflicted with mis- 
fortune, we turn to God for protection. When financial 
ruin stares us in the face we pray to God to be saved from 
that distress. When in trouble of any kind, big or little, 
we beg for divine grace and mercy. But that is not so 
reprehensible as it is to pray for God to help us in our 
business investments, love affairs, domestic troubles, at- 
tempts to swindle friends, and other efforts, honest or 
otherwise, to further our interests. 

There is no question about the sincerity and earnestness 
of the church, and other religious organizations, in their 
public endeavor to benefit mankind, or of the individuals 
engaged in this wholesale effort to attract God's attention 
to our needs and desires. Such efforts date back to the 
beginning of civilization, possibly to the prehistoric age, 
and the custom has been of such long standing that it is a 
religious and sacred habit, if there could be such a thing. 
Take as an illustration what has been expected of God 
during this long, long period of years since man has been 
developed into a worshipping individual. All of the differ- 
ent nationalities and races, countless in variety and number, 
have been beseeching God for His protection and guidance, 



224 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

as individuals, in their multitudinous conglomeration of 
languages since the creation of mankind. It would be im- 
possible for a human mentality to comprehend the number- 
less difficulties encountered in the vast work of giving at- 
tention to these countless appeals. There also are the 
varied changes during this long period of hundreds of 
thousands of years in the races and nationalities to be con- 
sidered, each one of which had its own perculiar language, 
which God was supposed to understand. Even in this day 
and age God would have His troubles in keeping informed 
of the different types of human creations, their varied 
forms of religious belief, the various languages, the several 
degrees of intelligence, and shades of color. God would be 
required to answer the prayers of black, brown, red, yellow 
and white people, some with curly and others with straight 
hair. The prayers for aid and protection would be in Eng- 
lish, French, German, Italian, Hindu, Turkish, Spanish, 
Esquimau, Choctaw, Sioux, Digger Indian, Greek, Latin, 
Russian, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, and every other 
language from that of the Hottentots up. This would seem 
to be a task, but it is said that God knows everything. 
That may be true, but man devises and upbuilds his own 
languages. 

It is supposed to have been five hundred thousand years 
since prehistoric man first existed, and that is the length 
of the period that God has endeavored to control mankind, 
His favorite creation, according to the belief of man. Take 
into consideration that there also were the affairs of the 
immeasurable universe to control and keep in order, that 
each world, with its belongings, might move in its orbit with 
regularity and precision. That would be some work for 
the personal God we are supposed to worship, in addition to 
looking after our welfare. But God is equal to such a task 
if we are to believe our religious instructors. They also 
inform us that God, the personal God, is to be found in 
heavenly realms, where He and his angels dwell in ever- 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 225 

lasting peace, and that God sits on a gorgeous throne in 
such dazzling and majestic splendor that mortal eyes could 
not gaze upon Him. The heavenly city, the place of God's 
residence, is equipped with pearly streets, golden gates and 
other refulgent improvements. Who but man could con- 
jure up such an inconsistent fairy tale? Who but 
man could contrive a belief in the existence of a per- 
sonal God to create and control the working of this 
vast universe? Who but man could devise the scheme of 
God's personal interest in the welfare of mankind? Who 
but man could perpetuate a religion, or a number of relig- 
ions, that advocate a belief in a myth-God? Who but man 
could keep up and insist on maintaining such a baneful 
influence as that of relying on the supernatural for our 
comfort and happiness? Who but man could conceive 
and put into practice the many diverse forms and kinds 
of religious beliefs now in use? Who but man could have 
so often cheerfully changed his religious belief to meet 
the demands of intellectual progress? 

There are other incredible, impossible declarations in 
every form of religious doctrine promulgated that indicate 
plainly that man is the creator of the myth-God we worship 
and of our varied religious opinions. Miracles in ancient 
times were the best asset for building up a religion and 
making it popular that could be devised. But we are living 
in an age of what might be termed man-miracles, and 
must be shown the real thing now before we can be con- 
vinced. When we are told that in bible days chosen ones 
were sent to heaven in chariots, we feel sure that there 
were no balloons and aeroplanes in those times and that 
the tale needs confirmation. The conception of Christ and 
the blood atonement are two inconsistencies that may only 
be explained by man. God is not sending angels in modern 
times to procreate Divine Sons, nor is He now disinherit- 
ing from salvation and heavenly realms people who lived 
and died before the crucifixion of Christ. Were any per- 



226 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

son in this era to stand beside the body of a dead man and 
recall him to life, all of the doctors and scientists would 
feel like committing suicide, imagining that they were crazy. 
No one nowadays thinks of seeing miracles, except spirit- 
ual mediums, clairvoyants, mind readers, science healers 
and madhouse inmates. 

Worshipping a myth-God is our worst religious offense 
in this modern age, and that mistake has always been made. 
It is a part of our prehistoric heritage. A belief in the 
supernatural and in superstition has been handed down to 
the present generation from time immemorial. Don't start 
anything on Friday. Drop a fork and it's a sign of bad 
luck. Don't walk under a ladder. Someone is talking about 
you when your cheeks burn. Always get out of bed on 
the right side. Sleep with your head to the north. These and 
hundreds of similar absurdities have much to do with our 
conduct. We must pray before pictures of certain saints 
in order to receive specified benefactions, and burn candles 
that our prayers may be answered. In some churches we 
are required to subscribe to specified articles of faith be- 
fore we may be saved. In other churches it is necessary 
to be baptized by being submerged in water or by be- 
ing sprinkled with water. People who are not recipients of 
the holy ghost cannot become aspirants for heavenly honors 
is another religious edict. Some churches assert that only a 
certain few of the select may be favored with salvation. 
Other churches lay claim to the sacred road, and all those 
who worship with them will travel thereon. But all churches 
advocate prayer as a means of reaching God's ear, for 
supplicating His guidance in earthly affairs. Where is the 
personal God who listens to our appeals for assistance? 
Not one of these monitors of religious culture can tell us. 
God is everywhere is their reply, indefinite as it may seem. 
They mean that God sees and knows our slightest move- 
ment. That may be true, but why pray to Him if He is 
constantly watching over our welfare? Praying to an un- 






FINDING THE REAL GOD 227 

knowable, unseen God is like tossing gold pieces into the 
ocean to see them float. We want to know God, to see, 
hear and feel His presence. But before that may be done 
we must find Him. 



228 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 



FINDING THE REAL GOD: 

SECOND PART 

SEEKING God will be a pleasant duty to those who 
truly make the effort. We have not far to go to 
find him. His whereabouts may be easy of access, 
or we may be compelled to prolong our endeavors, but our 
real god may be found by every aspirant eager to see and 
know him. First, look carefully, searchingly into your own 
heart. What do you see, God, or the semblance of a demon ? 
One or the other is there, possibly both of them. Should 
neither of them seem apparent, recall and thoughtfully re- 
view your life career. God or the demon or both of them 
are manifest in your acts and deeds. You have only to 
recall what you have done and you will see to what ele- 
ment of life, the good or the evil, you belong. You may be 
surprised to learn that the real God you are to worship 
dwells within your own mind. That is true, but He will 
not guide and control your thoughts, acts and deeds for 
right doing, unless you prepare the way that He may dom- 
inate your mentality. 

The germ of mortal life which originally caused our 
existence has been handed down from parent to child since 
the beginning, and that germ indicates, when developed into 
manhood or womanhood, whether or not we are human gods 
or demons. There is no other God that controls or guides 
our affairs. As human beings we are not subject to super- 
natural influences. Each individual is a unit, independent 
and distinct from every other form of earthly creation. 
We are governed and controlled entirely by natural laws, 
and these laws relate only to the method of our procreation, 
birth, life and death. All else in our earthly existence is 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 229 

within our own individual control, assisted by such efforts 
as may come from fellow beings. The only way to ascer- 
tain the correctness of the above statement is to follow as 
carefully as possible the explanation as to how we may find 
the real God, not God the Creator of the universe, but the 
man-God who guides, controls and influences our existence 
as individuals, the God every human individual possesses 
whose mentality is under sane and vigorous control. 

We come into the world as puny, helpless infants, crea- 
tures of a procreative process by which we were impreg- 
nated with the germ of mortal life. That germ, unques- 
tionably, was originally an endowment of the real God, 
the Creator of the universe, a Deity with wonderful crea- 
tive powers. That germ of life when once bestowed on 
any form of creation becomes an everlasting dower which 
is destined to perpetuate that particular form of creation 
as long as means are provided for its subsistence. As 
creatures of life we are the only form of earthly creation 
that was endowed with a superior mentality, which, when 
developed, provides us with ability to control and govern 
all other forms of earthly existence. This mentality is a 
functional, physical organ, occupying the cranium of our 
skulls, and consists of a convoluted, whitish mass of brain 
cells, connected with nerve fibers that ramify in every part 
of our bodies. The brain cells are divided into centers that 
cover certain areas of the convoluted brain organ, each 
center controlling its particular mental or physical func- 
tions, and causing mental and physical activities, when 
actuated by the six senses. These senses furnish the mental 
energy that enables us to use the cellular activities. Read- 
ers of this book are requested to refer to the detailed de- 
scriptions in the series of propositions, also to the pages 
illustrating the brain organism and nervous system of a 
human being. 

We are so constituted, mentally and physically, that com- 
munication may not be had with us, either supernaturally 



230 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

or otherwise, except by means of the five senses. We must 
see, hear, touch or feel, smell, or taste before a sense may 
be called into use. When that is done mental activity is 
awakened, and we are able to understand the communica- 
tion. In no other way may a message or communication 
be made intelligible. It may seem sacrilegious to make the 
assertion, but it is a fact that God, the Creator, could not 
communicate with any one or more of us, unless in the 
manner above described. That is the reason why there 
could be no healing by the alleged divine mind, no trans- 
mission of thought, no clairvoyance, no spirit communica- 
tions of any kind by supernatural influence. The use of 
the five senses is absolutely necessary to arouse mental 
activity from outside or extraneous sources. 

It is a belief in the supernatural, the unreal, the unreli- 
able that causes us to neglect developing our mentalities 
by natural, practical methods. We trust too much to luck, 
and to a feeling that everything will come out all right, 
when engaged in our daily vocations. Sometimes what 
seems to be chance causes our undertakings to be success- 
ful, but as a rule no human calling is prosperous, unless 
guided and controlled by a sane, common-sense mentality. 
Would you expect supernatural power to move a stick of 
timber, or to carry you up a flight of stairs? Such an 
expectation is as reasonable as would be the possibility of 
having a debt paid, or of being made rich by some unex- 
pected good fortune, apparently through supernatural in- 
fluence. We were provided with mental ability to build 
our own good fortunes, and to enjoy the blessings of earthly 
life, but that cannot be done by people possessed with slug- 
gish, inactive, undeveloped mentalities. They lack the brain 
energy, the mental force, the ability to concentrate and 
apply their efforts, or they would prosper in almost any 
undertaking. 

Among the causes of delay in mental development for 
right thinking is the belief in spiritualism. There is nothing 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 231 

in our mental and physical belongings as human beings that 
justifies such a belief. We are absolute creatures of nature, 
of the family of vertebrates, and are beings of bone, sinew, 
flesh and cell tissue, mentally and physically. Our every 
act and movement result from the activity of brain and 
nerve cells, all of which are subject to degeneration and 
decay, together with our bodily functions, after death en- 
sues. There could be no spirit existence either before or 
after death. There is nothing about us mentally or physi- 
cally that has not been analyzed and its component parts 
made known. Had there been anything about that analysis 
that would have justified a belief in spiritualism we would 
have heard from it long ago. We are told that spirits 
move about, transmit communications, and act as they did 
in animate life. They pass through closed doors, utter 
groans, make noises, rap on tables and frighten nervous 
people. How could this be done by a spirit composed of 
nothing? It is safe to say that there are no spirits of an 
ethereal nature. There are mentalities that see things, 
sometimes, that are very unreal. That is either when there 
is lack of mental control or because the mind has been 
trained by constant effort to imagine unrealities. There 
have been people who thought they could walk on water 
without the use of water skates. The coroner has always 
regretted that he could not tell them that they were mis- 
taken. 

We shall never find the real God, until our mentalities 
are fitted for that purpose. It is not necessary that we 
become prosperous in worldly affairs, or that we make 
martyrs of ourselves in our efforts to cast off sinful bur- 
dens. We are not, and cannot be saints, as long as we are 
super-animals. But we should learn to control ourselves, 
and to stop all forms of wrong doing that injure health, de- 
stroy peace of mind, and cause distress and discomfort to 
others. A good, contented, peace-loving citizen is worth 
more to the world than the millionaire who is constantly 



232 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

grabbing off the opportunities of others to enjoy the com- 
forts of life. What we should do to find the real God is 
to begin the search by pledging ourselves to pray, as in- 
dividuals, for our own right doing, right thinking and 
right living. 

Those of us who are church members should immediately 
stop thinking that a belief in any one parti cullar faith, or 
religion, is essential to salvation. The germ of life was 
bestowed on all of the human race and not on any one 
nationality, class or color of people. God, the Creator, en- 
dowed all mankind with a super-intellect, and no reserva- 
tions were made favoring any one form of religion. The 
only qualification necessary to achieve happiness, content-, 
ment and the hope of an immortal future is mental fitness. 
That is a question of training, mental effort and brain cell 
development. Every human being possesses the six senses, 
the same brain cellular organ, and the same means of 
mental development, whether he be white, black, red or 
yellow. But not all individuals have had the same oppor- 
tunities for mental progress. Those of us who are mentally 
unfit, or who have wasted our opportunities to become men- 
tally proficient, may yet be made worthy of the blessing to 
be enjoyed by mental regeneration. A church membership 
is not essential to this regeneration, although it is recom- 
mended. Church and other religious associations are bene- 
ficial, but not absolutely necessary. Mental regeneration is 
an individual affair. It may only be accomplished by indi- 
vidual endeavor. Church membership and attendance, ritu- 
alistic readings, pulpit prayers and oratory, choir singing, 
Sunday school exercises, and other forms of religious wor- 
ship, may inspire thoughts of right doing, but the actual 
mental regeneration will only result from individual en- 
deavor. 

Mental regeneration changes involuntarily the life habits 
of a person possessed with an evil mind, and causes him to 
become an exemplary, reputable citizen. The conversion 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 233 

will be gradual in both mind and body. The red-blooded 
profligate is as bad, viewed from a moral standpoint, as 
the skinny criminal who picks pockets. Such men or women 
need mental regeneration fully as much as do people half 
dead from the effects of their misdeeds. 

Mental regeneration is good for any person, even those 
who pride themselves on their freedom from wrong doing. 
It will prove especially beneficial to the hypocrite, whose 
sanctimony oozes from the pores of his skin along with the 
perspiration. Mental regeneration is a panacea for worry, 
disappointment, perplexities, sorrow, despair, troubles, dis- 
tress of mind or body, and every form of ailment not deeply 
seated in a physical function. When the world seems dark 
and dreary, and the mind is depressed and gloomy, the 
method employed to regenerate the mentality will clear 
away the clouds that we may again see sunshine. When 
remorse or sinful regrets cause despair of our ever over- 
coming desires for wrong doing, a resort to an endeavor to 
regenerate the mind will revive hope and bring welcome re- 
lief. When misfortune befalls, and our hearts sink and 
seem to lose their power to invigorate, we have only to try 
the method of upbuilding our mental energy to lighten the 
burdens that seem so heavy. 

There is only one way to regenerate the mentality, and 
that is by good, honest, heartfelt prayer. Not the prayer 
that is uttered for its eloquence, or for publicity. Not the 
prayer that is offered for a selfish purpose. Not the prayer 
we make for the welfare of others. Not the prayer spoken 
for guidance when our thoughts are wandering. Not the 
prayer for self-agrandizement. Not the prayer of a per- 
son too good to kneel in humble submission. Such prayers 
will not regenerate a mentality. When praying for self- 
betterment we are dealing with brain cellular development, 
and only worthy, honest prayers will develop cells that 
will create mental strength for right doing. Before we can 
live right, do right and see the right, our mentalities must 



234 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

be controlled for right doing. The mentality is the person 
de facto. Our bodily functions perform the duties prompted 
by the mentality. If our mental control is wrong we will 
do wrong. There is no escaping the penalty of possessing a 
mentality that instigates wrong doing. To regenerate such 
a mentality we must create a desire for right doing. To per- 
petuate and make that desire lasting, we must develop 
sufficient brain cellular strength for right doing to gain 
control of the mentality. When that control is gained by 
brain cellular development we will do right. It will be seen 
that mental regeneration is a physical, sensible process. It 
is not a method of holding desires for wrong doing in 
restraint by religious ardor. It is a complete overcoming of 
such desires by subjugating the cellular influence that 
prompts wrong doing. That is the reason why our prayers 
for right doing must be strictly honest and sincere. We 
are praying to develop cellular control, and not for self- 
restraint. 

Prayers for right doing should not only be sincere and 
honest, but they should also be free from thoughts of wrong 
doing. To think wrong is to do wrong, and it is impossible 
to pray earnestly while thoughts of wrong doing are float- 
ing through the mind. Prayers exclusively for right doing 
will invigorate the mentality, and cause it to influence the 
physical functions more freely by means of the nerve fibers. 
Prayers for wrong doing, if offered, would have an opposite 
effect, because wrong doing in any form is disastrous to 
both mind and body. Right doing is an upbuilding process. 
Wrong doing is a destructive force. That argument applies 
to everything in nature. Right means to cultivate, to up- 
build ; wrong means to destroy, disintegrate and cause decay. 
Prayers for right doing inspire and upbuild mental strength 
and vigor, health, hope, salutary influences, and beneficial 
desires. Wrong doing instigates and creates mental distress, 
criminal tendencies, bestial desires, physical weakness and 
ill health. Mental forces that destroy the ability to enjoy 



FINDING THE REAL GOD 235 

peace of mind, comfort and happiness should be overcome. 

Seeking the real God puts sunshine in life and causes it 
to be worth having. To be independent and free from care 
should be our most cherished ambition. Worry, grief and 
disappointment cause most of our troubles, and they belong 
to the element of wrong doing. The only way to banish 
every influence that creates sorrow and unhappiness is to 
regenerate the mind and put it under sane mental control. 
Mental strength is needed to overcome mental troubles. 
That strength must be upbuilded by brain cellular develop- 
ment and activity on the same principle employed to create 
muscular strength. Both essentials to well doing are accom- 
plished by exercise. Prayer is a mental exercise that up- 
builds a desire for right doing. We pray earnestly, sin- 
cerely, devoutly for that purpose. The desire to do right 
is made stronger by the prayerful endeavors until it be- 
comes a fixed habit, a controlling influence over the mental- 
ity. When that influence dominates our tendencies to do 
wrong, the victory over all forms of wrong doing will be 
won. We will stop creating our own misery and distress, 
and will become independent, self-supporting, well-doing 
people. Our mental and physical health will be strengthened 
and upbuilded. Strong, sane minds inspire good deeds. 
Good deeds cause us to become reputable and worthy. 

The man, or woman, controlled by a regenerated mental- 
ity, that inspires right doing, right living, and right thinking, 
may see a reflection of the real God every time he or she 
looks into a mirror. God, the Creator, could do no more 
than to be always doing right. That means doing right in 
every way from the Supreme Influence of an Infinite 
Creator down to the duties of a human being. Right doing 
must be our only means of becoming worthy of an immor- 
tal existence. We must do right in this life, or there will 
be no hereafter. We cannot deceive ourselves on that 
proposition. We are controlled by mentalities that never 
make a mistake when it comes to reviewing our claim to 






236 FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD 

worthiness. That germ of mortal life with which we are 
impregnated and to which we owe our existence is the 
tell-tale that will decide our fate. If we ever find the real 
God, the Sublime Creator, it will be through its influence. 
For that germ is the source of our mental activities, of our 
efforts to do right, of our longings and desires for a future 
existence, and of our hope to find and know the real God. 
The germ of life is an indication of God's approval of 
mankind. 



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